Shadow In the Leaves
by Lawyer Pierrot
Summary: Everybody's favorite blond ninja receives a second chance at life from none other than the Nara clan. How will his new life unfold?
1. Chapter 1

Shadow In the Leaves: Chapter 1

It really wasn't anything new. He didn't know why he would have expected today to be different than any other day. Perhaps the optimistic feeling that had hung over him since he had woken up had in actuality been sent by whatever deity had taken a personal interest in making his life a miserable hell. All he knew at this point was that this day certainly didn't seem to hold any particular promise.

Now thoughts like this aren't rare. When men hit a hard spot in life it isn't uncommon for them to turn to moody introspection and as long as they're eventually able to move on, a little brooding never hurt anyone.

Therein lies the problem.

This "man" was not a man at all, but rather a boy. Seven years old to be exact, as of one month ago, and far too young to be experiencing such thoughts. As he lied on the hard ground of the alley he had excaped to, battered and bruised, breathing heavily, it would have been fairly obvious to anybody that would spare the time to make a glance in his direction that all was not well with this boy. His clothes were torn and dirty, their original colors long lost behind a veil of grunge and grime. His once bright blonde hair was disheveled and knotted, and covered in a layer of dust as well. His face, still round with the lingering fat of childhood, was also smudged with the same clinging grime. Clear blue eyes were staring from that face, refracting even more sunlight than usual due to the presence of his stinging tears. However, that would be ignoring his most distinguishing features. Across each of his cheeks were three birthmarks that looked remarkably like whiskers. This boy, Naruto Uzumaki, was an orphan with what seemed to be the world's worst luck. And yet he managed to keep his head up high, never allowing himself to be defeated.

This is his story.

"Why did I even bother to get out of bed today?" Naruto wondered aloud as he sat himself against a nearby wall. However the action caused something in the vicinity of his ribs to compress in an eruption of searing pain. He gingerly got to his feet once more, grimacing as the pain hit again. He would just have to support his injured body the old-fashioned way.

He looked around dazedly, trying to find some more permanent place to hide out lest his attackers choose to seek him out again.

It hadn't been a major event, just a couple of older boys from the academy that somehow got it into their heads that roughing him up would be a fun way to pass the time. Having no experience in the academy himself, but quite a bit in running away, Naruto managed to escape and now found himself in his current predicament.

There didn't seem to be a lot of options. Withered vines of ivy hung from a nearby stone wall. A small green dumpster stood in the corner of the alley, its ancient paint job chipped and fading.

I'll use that as a last resort. All I have to do is make it back to the orphanage. But what if they know where it is? I don't think they do, but…

Naruto sighed. It would be better than sitting in an alley all day. He'd have to take his chances at some point. He peeked out from behind the aged mortar to make sure there wasn't anybody overtly hostile in the road beyond. Seeing nothing, he ventured out onto the quiet street. He was in a somewhat secluded residential area that housed some of the middle-class families of Konoha. Bright profusions of flowers adorned the planters that framed the rows of homes. Taking a moment to find his bearings, he determined that he was roughly a ten minute walk from the orphanage. It wouldn't be so bad if he could avoid any unwanted encounters.

He set off in the direction of the orphanage, passing through several other neighborhoods. He made sure to stay alert as he made his way towards his destination. Twice, he got a sudden feeling of uneasiness, but looking around he saw nothing. Finally the orphanage came in to view as he turned a final corner. What he saw standing there made his heart sink.

_Aww man, I knew it!_

Three children around ten years old were standing in the plaza directly in front of the orphanage. The first was a glasses-wearing boy with short brown hair and brown eyes. He sported an academy issue outfit along with the other two, and if Naruto recalled correctly his name was Zoku. The second of the trio was a girl with curly auburn hair down to her shoulders and green eyes. That would be Akari. The last of the three was a boy with medium length black hair that fell down over his brown-black eyes. That was definitely Ryuji.

Before he could duck behind the corner again, the trio had noticed him.

Ryuji gave Naruto a smile that had no hint of friendliness. "Well well. I thought you would show up here. That was pretty crafty before, snagging one of my smoke pellets to use on us. But you won't be getting away this time you little twerp."

"Yeah, you're gonna get it." Zoku added.

"Just hold still and maybe we'll go easy on you." Akari chimed in as she cracked her knuckles.

With that, the three began their rapid advance on Naruto. He looked around frantically for an avenue of escape, but the only way out was the way he just came. Knowing that he couldn't outrun them without them being incapacitated, he held up his fists in a defensive stance. To anybody looking on, it would have seemed almost comical; one seven year old trying to stand his ground against three older children. Naruto braced himself as they drew within striking distance.

He blinked in surprise as the blows never came. They were all standing directly in front of him, completely motionless.

_Wh-What happened?_

"I can't move! What did you do!?" Demanded Zoku.

The others made similar shocked inquiries.

"It's not anything he's done, children." A deep new voice spoke. "You're caught in my Shadow Bind Jutsu."

The three bullies struggled to see their captor, but to no avail.

Naruto quickly found the source of the voice. About five feet behind the aggressors, a man with dramatically tall spiky black hair had appeared. He wore small silver hoops in each ear and had several scars on his face. Over a standard ninja suit he wore a simple vest.

"You're… helping me?" Naruto asked with confusion in his voice.

"It certainly looks like you could use it." He replied in a gruff tone. "Besides, I've been keeping tabs on you ever since your little encounter with these three near the academy this morning. I saw the way you were watching, so enthralled. I'm guessing you want to be a ninja, hmm? The fact that you seemed to notice me following you shows that you have definite promise. I wasn't being particularly sneaky, mind you, but still not bad."

Naruto gave the stranger a winning grin. "Yeah! I'm gonna be a super-cool ninja! And one day I'm gonna be the Hokage so everybody will respect me, you'll see!"

The stranger eyed Naruto as if he was coming to some sort of conclusion. "From what I just heard, you're reasonably clever. And your skill of perception is above average. You've definitely got potential. As long as you've got the will, I'm sure that you'll make a fine ninja."

Naruto's grin got wider at that. He was positively gushing sunshine. "Gee, thanks mister!"

The man noted Naruto's reaction to a simple compliment.

_He acts like he's never gotten a compliment in his life._

He took a moment to reflect on that. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a very real possibility. He suddenly realized that he still had his captives under his jutsu and his chakra was slowly draining away.

"I have to take care of these miscreants, so I'll be going now. Take care, eh?"

The dark-haired stranger released his jutsu and addressed the three academy students. "You three will be coming with me. We're going to have a little chat with your instructor and your parents."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh on the inside when he saw the looks of horror on their faces.

It looks like they're going to wet their pants! Heck, Akari looks like she's going to faint!

The man walked off with the three delinquents in tow and Naruto could have sworn he heard him mutter "Troublesome…" under his breath.

"Well, that was kind of exciting." He said to nobody in particular.

He eyed the orphanage. Curfew didn't require him to be back until 6:00 and he really didn't want to spend any more time there than he had to. Then again, his only real hobby was watching the academy students train and by the time he made his way back they would be nearly done. Naruto sighed. Even if he just returned to the orphanage, he couldn't win. If he returned early, the matron would ask him why he didn't have anything better to do in that snide tone of hers. And he would most likely be assigned some sort of boring and or degrading chore "Since he had some much free time on his hands." At least she didn't seem to care what hour of the night he dragged himself in at if he felt like staying out. Normally he'd entertain himself by playing some sort of prank on an unlucky townsperson, but the thought of being caught by the imposing man from before scared the bajeebies out of him.

That settled it. Naruto sighed again and turned for the orphanage doors. He _really_ hoped the toilets had already been scrubbed.

Two Weeks Later:

Naruto had continued to watch the students of the Ninja Academy on a daily basis. He stood by the gates, enthralled by the sight of whizzing kunai and students sparring. Zoku, Akari, and Ryuji had all been purposely avoiding his gaze since the incident two weeks prior. On this particular occasion, one of the instructors was demonstrating how to cause a shuriken to arc once thrown. Naruto watched for a few minutes, then produced one of his personal treasures. It was a small battered shuriken that he had acquired about a year ago when one of the academy students launched it over the fence with a particularly embarrassing throw. Naruto had claimed it later when nobody was looking and had used it ever since to mimic the students' lessons whenever he had the opportunity. He wasn't great with a shuriken by a longshot, but his self directed training had brought him to the point where he could put proper spin on it and hit within about six inches of where he was aiming.

This arcing technique was new to Naruto, he couldn't remember seeing it being taught in the academy before. He backed away from the fence and found a nearby tree to aim at. Flicking his wrist as he saw the instructor demonstrate, he tossed the shuriken. It sailed off course and bounced off of another nearby tree. One of the students had been watching Naruto's attempt, and tapped his friend on the shoulder while pointing in Naruto's direction. The other boy turned around and laughed as he watched Naruto retrieve his shuriken and attempt the throw again. Naruto saw their jeers out if the corner of his eye and he blushed with angry embarrassment as he repeated his throw again and again only to achieve the same result. The instructor, finally noticing the two were not practicing the technique but rather watching Naruto, walked over to the boys to berate them. They both gave sheepish looks and returned to the task at hand.

Naruto continued at his task until the arc of the shuriken carried it upwards and lodged it in the tree he was aiming at. The problem was it decided to stick itself higher than a seven year old could reach.

"Aww man…" Naruto groaned.

He looked around for a rock to throw at the kunai to try and knock it out of the tree. He struck it dead on three times, but it refused to budge. Becoming frustrated, he turned to the other option set before him. Naruto turned to a patch of bushes located roughly behind him.

"Hey! I can hear you, you know! I swear, you breathe so loud I'm surprised you don't scare the birds away! Are you just gonna hide there or are you gonna come out and help me?" He shouted louder than necessary while pointing at the brush.

A small boy about Naruto's age removed himself from his hiding place while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. He had longer spiky black hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail that reminded him of someone… ! The strange man that had rescued him two weeks ago!

"My name's Shikamaru. My dad told me to 'keep an eye on you' without you noticing. But I guess that's not going to happen now, eh? How troublesome."

Naruto gave Shikamaru a curious look. "Your dad?"

"Shikaku Nara, I think you met him a couple of weeks ago. I heard he saved your skin." Shikamaru confirmed.

"I knew it!" Naruto exclaimed, again louder than was necessary.

Shikamaru stuck a finger in one of his ears and twisted it. "You're a loud one, aren't you?"

Naruto smiled. "Maybe you're just the sensitive one. What's it matter?"

Shikamaru smiled back, catching the humor in Naruto's tone. "Touché. From what my pop said you're not so bad, and I guess he's right. He mentioned that you want to be a ninja. Are you serious?"

Shikamaru almost regretted the question after seeing how fired up it got Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm gonna be a great ninja ,and use cool jutsu, and go on missions and stuff! Then, one day, I'm gonna be Hokage so everybody will like me!"

The black-haired boy pondered the response he received.

"Ok, if you really want to be a ninja you're going to have to learn not to shout everything you say, but that's a whole other matter. My dad didn't actually tell me this, but from hearing him talk to other grown-ups I kinda got the impression that people don't really treat you well. Why is that? I mean, I've heard that you've pulled a few pranks, but that's no reason for everybody to hate you. You must have done _something_."

Naruto's demeanor instantly crashed into gloom. " I don't know, really. Everybody just doesn't like me, its always been that way. They call me a monster and they don't let me play with their kids. Then the kids are mean to me. I guess it's because I'm an orphan but I never really see the other kids being treated like that, so I don't know. I wish I did, 'cause then I could get them to like me. But that's why I'm gonna be Hokage, so everyone will respect me."

Shikamaru studied the now gloomy blonde. "You know, I believe you. I don't get a bad vibe from you. Besides if people have been mean to you for as long as you can remember, what could you have possibly done that young to make everybody mad at you? Something's up, but I get the feeling that it isn't your fault."

A moment of silence passed as they were lost in their thoughts.

"Hey!" Naruto perked up. "Do you want to help me get my shuriken down?"

"Uhh, sure." Shikamaru replied. "How can I help?"

"Give me a boost so I can reach it."

Shikamaru sighed. "Ugh, troublesome."

Naruto gave Shikamaru a strange look. "Why do you guys say that all the time?"

"What?"

"You know," Naruto did his best impersonation of their tone. "_Troublesome_."

Shikamaru paused for a moment to think on that. "People just call it a 'Nara thing'. Look, do you want my help or not?"

"Uh, yeah. That's what I just asked you, right?"

Shikamaru palmed his face. "That was a rhetorical question. So troublesome."

"Whatever, just help me okay?"

Shikamaru knelt by the tree and held his palms in front of him, one under the other and supported by his knee, as a platform. Naruto stepped up and Shikamaru boosted him up so he could reach the shuriken. Naruto removed it with one deft pull. However, he had been a little overzealous and his momentum caused him to tumble off of Shikamaru's hands onto the ground below.

"Ooof." He grunted as he made contact with the dirt, creating a small dust cloud.

Shikamaru grimaced. "That's going to bruise, I'll bet." He commented.

Naruto picked himself up off of the ground. He dusted himself off somewhat before giving Shikamaru a grin.

"Yeah, but don't worry. I patch up super fast. This one time, I cut myself on a shard of glass and it was gone in like an hour. Uhh… the cut I mean."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow. "You're exaggerating, right? Nobody heals _that _fast."

"Nah, I'm serious. Literally an hour later, gone."

Shikamaru took a moment to consider that. "That's… not natural. Sounds like some sort of advanced bloodline. Does anybody know who your parents are?"

Naruto sobered at that question. "No, not as far as I know. When I ask, the old man sometimes acts like he's about to say something but he's never told me anything useful. So I don't know if he knows or not."

"Old man?"

Naruto grinned once more. "Oh yeah. You probably know him better as _our glorious lord The Third Hokage, Sarutobi-sama_." His voice carried a satirical tone.

Shikamaru paled slightly. "You call the Hokage 'old man'?"

Naruto's expression changed to a slightly smug smirk. "What? It's not like he's young."

Shikamaru rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He's probably the only person in the village on friendly terms with you, and you call him 'old man'? Sheesh."

Naruto's demeanor darkened. "When you say it like that you make it sound like you pity me or something. I don't _want_ your pity. I mean, it's not like I have it so bad you know. Adults just ignore me, or don't let me come in their stores, or stop their kids from playing with me. That kind of stuff. Most of the actual trouble comes from kids who want to bully me. Still, it sucks when you know that everybody hates you. But what did I say, eh? Don't waste your time feeling sorry for me. Nobody's done it up until now and I've survived just fine."

Naruto's reaction was more than enough to tell Shikamaru that he'd hit a nerve. Apparently Naruto had a chink in his armor of sunshine after all.

"Hey, hey. I didn't mean it like that.", He consoled. "I'm honestly pretty impressed that you're able to be so informal with the Hokage."

Naruto's smile returned somewhat. "Yeah, he's a pretty cool guy, I guess. At least compared to everybody else."

Shikamaru turned to look at the sun, which was beginning to set. Apparently he'd been out longer than he'd planned.

"Hmm, looks like it's time for me to go Naruto. Maybe we'll talk again sometime."

Naruto gave a sad sigh but made no protest.

"Okay then. It's been… nice. Nobody ever wants to talk to me. Or listen. But there I go again, throwing myself a pity party. Get on home, I don't want you to get in trouble."

Shikamaru nodded. "Okay. See you."

"See ya."

And with that Shikamaru walked off, leaving Naruto standing in the clearing. He turned on to the road that led back to the Nara compound. He enjoyed the walk as it gave him the time to take in his surroundings. The Nara compound was located on one of the mountain ridges around Konoha and was smack dab in the middle of the forest. Thus the path leading to it was thickly lined with trees and other foliage on either side. It was always pleasant to take in the beauty of nature, but the amber and pink glow of the sunset playing along the tops of the trees as a gentle breeze rustled their leaves was simply breathtaking.

The compound came into view after about five minutes and he had soon reached its gates. It was designed with an older style in mind, resembling the Hyuuga compound with a darker color scheme. With wrought iron gates in intricate patterns along with cherry-wood housing and tinted windows, it came off slightly showier that the Hyuugas' home, but to Shikamaru it felt much cozier and gave off much less of a sterile, bland vibe. Like most of the "clans" in Konoha, the compound was not as occupied as one might have thought. The word "clan" could fool someone into assuming it meant a very large number of people, but in actuality there were only twelve families living in the compound.

Needless to say, it was a pretty close-knit community, which was why he was greeted warmly at the gate by a relative everyone fondly referred to as Grandma Kirou. To Shikamaru, she was his uncle's-wife's-mother which made her his step-grandmother or something. In her youth she had been known to drive men across the village wild with her combination of natural good looks and prowess as a kunoichi. Even in her old age one could tell that she was a natural beauty, although the springtime of her youth had long since faded away. Her hair framed her face with salt-and-pepper curls that reached midway down her back. She kept a jade deer-shaped hair piece fastened in it. She wore an exotic navy blue kimono emblazoned with silver trim and thin swirling designs. Her figure was thin and willowy although she was not particularly tall. Her face, as always, was not only flawlessly covered in Nara cosmetics making her appear ten years younger, but also carrying a gentle smile.

"Well, hello there young Shikamaru. How are we today?"

"Hello Grandma Kirou. I'm doing well. And yourself?"

"Always so polite, aren't we? Well, keep it up. Somebody has to know how one treats their elders. But you know me. I'm always fine. Never had a condition that we couldn't create a medicine to fix."

Shikamaru chuckled.

"I guess that's the advantage to being the clan that creates medicine for the village. You can pick what you make based on your personal needs and sell the excess."

Grandma Kirou gave a hearty laugh at that, the sound of which always warmed Shikamaru's heart.

"The real advantage, Shikamaru, is not having to pay for it. Blood pressure, blood sugar, muscle aches, bone loss, memory, it's a laundry list. Just part of growing old, I'm afraid."

They both paused to admire the sun finally sinking completely below the horizon.

Grandma Kirou ruffled Shikamaru's hair and he turned to give her a warm smile.

"It's getting late dear. You better run on home."

"Yeah, you're right. Goodbye Grandma Kirou."

She patted him on the head. "Goodbye dear."

Shikamaru made his way home and stepped into the kitchen in time to see his mother plating some food. His father was already sitting expectantly at the table.

"Hello Shikamaru." He greeted. "You've been gone longer than I expected. Take a seat and tell me how things went."

Shikamaru complied and sat at his place at the table. "Well…", The boy began "I had an interesting conversation with him, but I still don't see how that was training."

Shikaku smiled. "Then he found you, huh? I predicted that, to be honest. The real training involved was your ability to analyze another human being. What did you learn about him, and what significance do you think that has?"

Shikamaru's eyes lit with enlightenment as he realized the point of "observing" Naruto. "Well, first of all, he really, really wants to be a ninja. The Hokage specifically. He's learned enough by observing the academy that he can actually throw a shuriken decently well. He was practicing a new technique today when he caught me. He said he could hear my breathing, but I was ten feet away so that was odd. He seems to have very good senses. Oh, and that reminds me, I think he has some sort of advanced bloodline."

Shikaku stiffened. "Uhh, what did you see that made you think that?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's really not anything that I saw. Other than the fact that he heard me breathing ten feet away, I gave him a boost so he could reach the kunai he'd lodged in the tree. He lost his balance when he pulled it out and he had a pretty good fall. When I commented on it he told me not to worry because he heals quickly. He said that he cut himself on glass once, and it was completely healed in an hour. That's definitely not natural. It just seems like his body is…", He paused to find the word he was looking for. "Enhanced."

Shikaku let out an invisible sigh of relief. "Well, that certainly is interesting. Tell me more about _Naruto_ though. How does he think?"

Shikamaru paused to recollect his thoughts. "Well, he's really loud. He seems like he's looking for attention. He also seems like he's prone to mood swings. If you say the right, or depending on how you look at it, wrong, thing his mood will do a one-eighty almost instantly. He acts happy, but he seems like he does a lot of brooding underneath the surface. He tries to convince himself that he's not that bad off and he should be happy, but he knows the truth of things in his heart. If you get past the image he puts on the surface he's actually very aware about how the world really works. At least as much as I am, and you take the time to explain things to me almost every day."

Shikaku nodded. "That was an excellent analysis, Shikamaru. I think you'll do well in the future. As one last point of interest, what's your opinion on his intelligence level?"

"Well.", The black-haired boy began. "He's kind of all over the board. When I first met him I thought he was just loud and bull-headed. Class-A dufus, you know? But the more he talked about his life, especially when he got serious, the more I realized that he's smarter than he gives himself credit for. He's actually very intelligent. I think his problem is that he just doesn't take the time to think most of the time. He probably gets so tired of the conclusions that he comes to about his life that he'd rather be stupid and happy than smart and depressed."

"Well said. Unfortunately if he wants to be the Hokage one day, he'll have to get over that pretty fast." Shikaku said as he impaled some salad on his fork.

At that point Mrs. Nara had had enough. She turned to Shikamaru with a vein throbbing in her forehead. "That's wonderful and all, but you think you can walk in here without so much as giving me a 'hello' and then sit and blabber while the dinner I slaved to make gets cold?"

Shikamaru slumped in his seat slightly. "Umm, hello to you too, mom."

Shikaku turned to his wife. "Now, now, Yoshino-kun. This is important and you know it." They shared a look that Shikamaru couldn't decode the meaning of.

She calmed down almost immediately. "I know honey, but you know how I feel when people just ignore me. Especially considering I'm the one that just made your dinner and I get to watch you ignore that too. I swear, you two are so troublesome"

The rest of dinner passed in casual conversation and soon the dishes were being cleared from the table. Shikamaru was getting ready to retire to his room for the night when his father approached him.

"Hey son. I was going to ask you earlier, but you got home a little late. I need you to run down to the apothecary and get me some ingredients so I can whip myself up some medicine for leg cramps. I'd go myself but I think you get the picture."

Shikamaru took the list that was handed to him. "Ugh, okay." He looked it over and sighed. "That's a lot of ingredients. So troublesome."

"Well get going so you can get it over with." His dad prodded.

Shikamaru just sighed again and walked out of the door. Shikaku watched him through the window and when he was a good distance away he spoke to the empty space in the living room. "Okay, it's clear."

Kirou Nara quickly shimmered into view. "Are you sure that'll keep him away long enough?"

Shikaku chuckled. "Yeah. I purposely mis-shelved the first two ingredients in the list and I stuck the ladder in the wrong place. That should occupy him for a minute or two."

Yoshino chose that moment to walk in. "So, do you think it's possible?"

Kirou smiled. "Definitely. Don't underestimate me in my advancing age."

"But it all hinges on what Naruto decides. It's almost nerve-wracking." Shikaku added.

Yoshino looked at her husband. "I still don't see exactly what possessed you to help that boy."

Shikaku wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her close. "My troublesome conscience won't let me just leave things the way they are after meeting him. Besides, if he accepts, this will work out to everybody's benefit."

Kaou smiled as she wrapped her arms around him in return and kissed her husband lovingly. "I know. I'm so excited for your brother; I know he's wanted this for so long. I just hope your plan works out."

"I'm pretty sure I've covered all the bases, and I had help." Shikaku said as he gestured towards Kirou.

"Well it'll be a waste of a good A-class Shikaku plan if he declines. I think this could be the finest you've ever produced. But if he accepts, I'll finally have what I've dreamt about for so long. And no doubt my daughter and son will be beside themselves as well." Kirou said with a wistful tone in her voice.

"But does it really have to be so complicated dear?" Yoshino asked.

Shikaku nodded. "There are just too many variables to ignore. Even for all of my plans, I couldn't have done much good if the Hokage hadn't agreed to help. Because of him, I was able to work things out to be as beneficial to all parties involved as possible. Multiple people are going to be able to achieve their dreams if this goes well." Glancing through the window, he spotted an exasperated looking Shikamaru walking up the road with a paper bag in hand. "Looks like this meeting is adjourned, Kirou-san."

"I'll be speaking with him tonight. Cross your fingers." She said before forming two handseals and fading from view once more.

If Shikamaru had been paying more attention, he may have noticed the tickle of a silk kimono on his arm as he opened the door.

Kirou walked out into the night, and enhancing her speed with chakra made her way to the orphanage that Naruto currently occupied. When she reached it's doors she knocked firmly. Another aged woman answered the door to find absolutely nothing.

"Pranksters." She mumbled before shutting the door once more, unaware that she had just let in an uninvited guest.

Making sure to step lightly on the old floor as not to cause it to creak, she made her way to the bedrooms and peeked inside the doors until she spied Naruto's mane of blonde hair poking out from one of the bunk beds. Luckily he was on the lower mattress, which made line-of-sight slightly easier to obtain.

_Shikaku was right_. Kirou mused. _You really can't miss him._

Walking into the room and positioning herself so she wasn't directly in the doorway should somebody decide to walk in or out for some reason, Kirou formed three handseals.

"Genjutsu: Waking Dream." She whispered.

In a matter of seconds her surroundings had faded away and she was left standing in the midst of absolutely nothing, pure white extending in all directions. Directly in front of her was a very startled looking Naruto. He looked at her curiously before examining his surroundings. Seeing nothing but white, his gaze directed itself back to Kirou. The gears in his head appeared to be spinning.

"Umm… am I dead?" He asked with morbid curiosity written all over his face.

Kirou couldn't help but laugh at his analysis and blunt question. The sound carried easily through the empty space surrounding them. "Oh, no dear. You're not dead, don't worry."

Naruto's face furrowed in confusion. "Then what the heck is going on here?"

"You're under the effect of a genjutsu that allows someone to talk to you in your sleep. Basically you're body is still fast asleep while your mind is wide awake at the moment. When you wake up in the morning, you'll remember everything that happened here." Kirou explained.

Naruto became visibly nervous at that statement. "What exactly is going to 'happen here'?"

Kirou walked over to the boy and put her hand on his shoulder. He had flinched when he saw her hand extending, but he quickly relaxed under the effect of her grandmotherly demeanor and friendliness. "We're just going to talk, as I've said."

Naruto stared up at her. "I remember an instructor at the academy saying genjutsu are illusions, right?"

Kirou nodded, impressed.

"Then why do we have to talk like this?"

"Because it would be very bad if anybody were to hear what I want to talk to you about. In the real world, I'm currently invisible and standing by your doorway. If you were to be awoken by a voice coming from nowhere that wanted to talk to you, you'd probably freak out which would be _very_ bad for the both of us. In this setting we can both talk freely without having to worry about anybody listening in on us."

Naruto nodded slowly, taking in information like a sponge. "Okay then. What exactly do you want to talk about?"

Kirou smiled warmly. "You, Naruto. Specifically your future. I'm here to make you an offer on behalf of myself…" She paused. "Oh, how rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself! I am Kirou Nara, although depending on what you decide here tonight you might like to call me Grandmother Kirou."

Naruto's eyes lit up at her insinuation as he unconsciously gasped. "Do you mean…!?"

"Yes, Naruto. I've come to talk to you about becoming part of the Nara clan, if you so wish. It seems my son-in-law's brother has taken quite an interest in you."

"Do you mean Shikaku Nara?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, that's him. Now as I was saying, I've come to make you an offer on behalf of myself, my son-in-law Genmaru, his brother Shikaku, and my daughter Kigome. You see, my daughter and had husband have been trying to have a child for a long time. They finally did some medical testing and discovered that my daughter is the one that can't have a child. However they still wanted a child more than anything in the world, but they can't adopt because of clan laws. That's where you and Shikaku's amazingly convoluted plan come in. My son-in-law Genmaru has heard how badly you want to become a powerful ninja and has agreed to do everything in his power to help you achieve that goal. He wants to adopt you as his son, and has promised to help you in any way he can."

Naruto considered her words. "What's this 'amazingly convoluted plan' of Shikaku's? And what does convoluted mean?"

Kirou grinned. "Convoluted means very complicated, dear. If you accept, we are going to stage your death in Konoha…"

Naruto suddenly flew into a panic. "How the heck are you going to adopt me if you kill me!!?"

Kirou chuckled. "Dear, dear, calm down. To stage someone's death means to fake it, so people think you're dead when you're really not."

Naruto calmed down and blushed, feeling quite foolish. "Oh."

Kirou patted him on the shoulder. "Now, now, dear. You're only seven. Of course you wouldn't know what that means. I'm sorry for not being more clear. Now as I was saying, we're going to stage your death. The Hokage has arranged a special mission for Genmaru if you decide to take our offer. You will leave with him for two years, nobody will know of course, and when you return you'll have a new name, a new appearance, and a new chance at life here in Konoha. Nobody will know it's you. In essence you really will die, only to be reborn as a Nara."

Naruto stood there and absorbed her words. Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes. "This all sounds too good to be true. I've always dreamt of having a family and being accepted. Now you're offering that to me? What's the catch, huh? There's gotta be a catch."

Kirou smiled down at him. "There are catches if you think about it Naruto. I'm trying to be completely open with you so I'm going to bring a few things to your attention. The first thing is that this offer isn't a very selfless one. My children want a child. And I want a grandchild for more reasons than one. We're getting what we want out of this as well. The second thing to think about is that we can tell you'll be a great ninja if you put your mind to it. Why wouldn't the Nara clan want that power backing it? So this is also in the interest of the Nara clan. Thirdly, you'll have to give up your identity for a long time if not forever. If you accept our offer, you can never again be Naruto Uzumaki. At least until you're much older and thinking about having a family of your own. That will be a time of great struggle for you, although that's in the distant future. Forth, this involves leaving Konoha for quite a while."

Naruto smirked as tears began to run down his face. "Those are catches? What's wrong with everyone being happy? Besides, my life sucks. Why would I care if I can't use my name anymore? And about leaving Konoha, I'd love to see what other places are like."

Kirou saw his tears of happiness and sighed sadly. "Don't get too happy too fast Naruto. I've still neglected to mention the biggest catch of all. Now I want you to promise me that you'll allow me to explain myself about what I'm about to say. If you react emotionally about to tell you, then you will probably have some serious mental issues to work out. However, if you let me finish, you'll be able to achieve enlightenment on a certain issue in your life and even work your way past it. Do you understand? What I'm about to do is against the law, by penalty of death. I hope to god I'm making the right decision."

Naruto gulped. "Okay, I understand."

"You've probably wondered why everybody seems to dislike you, right?" She began.

Naruto nodded.

"Well, it has to do with the attack of the Demon Fox, Kyuubi, that occurred seven years ago. On the day you were born, in fact. You've heard the story about how the fox was killed by the Forth Hokage, right?"

Naruto nodded again, suspicion beginning to gnaw at his mind.

"Well, that's what it is. A story. A fabrication meant to protect you. In reality the fox was sealed away into the only vessel adaptable enough to contain it, a newborn baby. You, Naruto."

Naruto fell to his knees, sobbing. "No! No! No, no, no, no, NO! So every time somebody called me 'monster'…"

Kirou knelt down and wrapped him in a hug. "What did you promise me Naruto?"

His sobs soon stopped and petered out into sniffles. "That I wouldn't get emotional until I let you finish explaining."

Kirou tipped his head up to look at her by raising his chin. "There's the tough boy I've heard about. Now let me finish. Everybody that was old enough to understand what was going on at the time knows the truth of your situation. Except they were looking to find a scapegoat to take their anger out on after the devastation of the attack. Most of them managed to convince themselves that you were the Kyuubi that they despised so much, a monster. The reality of the situation is that the Kyuubi is sealed within you. You are the living sacrifice that stopped its wrath from continuing. You're the Kyuubi's jailor. You're a _hero_ Naruto, the only thing standing between us and the Demon Fox."

Naruto's tears stopped entirely during her explanation. He looked at her with pure gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you. Now I know why everybody hates me, but knowing what I know, I think… I think I might be able to forgive them now. But why did you tell me, when nobody else would?"

Kirou took his hand and squeezed it. "Because Naruto, you're not alone. There are others like you. Jinchuuriki, living sacrifices who bear demons sealed inside of them. And they have a history of being to manifest bits of their captive's power. Having the Kyuubi sealed inside you is an incredibly distinct mark of your identity. If you were to assume another identity and somehow the Kyuubi were to manifest some of its power through you at the wrong time or place, it would instantly reveal who you are to all the wrong people. Long story short, it would ruin everything. This is what I was getting to, the biggest catch of all. If you take our offer, you must agree to do everything in your power to avoid manifesting the Kyuubi's power. You must never, _never_, use it, _ever_. So… now everything is laid before you, plain as can be. What do you say? I need your answer as soon as possible in order to get things in motion if you accept. When should I return to hear your answer?"

Naruto pondered that for a moment. "I accept." He announced firmly.

"Hmm!?" Kirou gasped, taken aback. "I heard you were impulsive, but… you've already decided? This is a very major decision you know. And once we set the events in motion you won't be able to change your mind."

Naruto grinned. "I make up my mind pretty quickly. Besides, this is my dream, and Genmaru and Kagome's dream, and I wanna live it! Besides, from what I've seen from you, Shikamaru, and Shikaku-san, the Nara clan is made up of some really cool people. If I could imagine my parents, I'd want them to be like you."

Kirou couldn't help but grin with him. "I can see why Shikaku was so motivated to help you. You're a very loveable young man, and you're spirit is infectious. I need to go now. I'll begin getting things in order immediately, Naruto-chan. Be prepared to leave the village behind in two days. Two days from now , on Thursday at twelve-o-clock, make your way into the wooded area directly to the right of the Konoha Zoo. We'll take care of the rest. Sadly, after that, we'll have to wait two years to see each other again. You won't meet your mother until then either, I'm afraid." She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. "Goodbye for now, my grandson. My heir." And with that she brought her hands together in the Tiger seal. "Kai!"

The white world dissolved as Kirou returned to consciousness and Naruto returned to his slumber. She looked once more at Naruto's slumbering form before stealing silently into the night once more. He was smiling peacefully.

A.N.

PHEW! That's more than I'm used to writing (Though I have little experience, I must admit.) I hope people will feel at liberty to give me some constructive criticism. I accept all reviews as long as they are polite in making their point. (I have an easily bruised ego, so forgive me.) This is an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for forever, and I at least had to get the first chapter down on paper... or its digital equivalent. I'm worried about splitting my focus between this and the other story I just began. I hope I"ll be able to effectively balance the two... Anyway... If you've happened to peek at Konmei (my other story), you'll definitely be able to draw a parallel with a certain scene and the talk with Kirou. I guess that's just the side effect of having a lot of ideas bouncing around your head at once... they tend to intermingle somewhat. I hope this is an interesting concept, though I know some of the diolouge wasn't exactly original. Some things are unescapable. Anyhoo, I'm just ranting at this point.

~LP


	2. Chapter 2

Shadow In the Leaves: Chapter 2

The next day passed too slowly for Naruto's taste. Anticipation had slowly been building within him until he was sure he was going to burst. Needless to say, he had trouble getting to sleep that night. Nonetheless when he finally drifted into unconsciousness, Kirou was waiting for him. Naruto was only momentarily startled by the shift to the empty white expanse of the Waking Dream jutsu.

Kirou offered Naruto a smile. "How are you feeling, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto pumped his fist and gave her a grin. "I'm getting all excited. This is gonna be so cool!" His expression wilted as he became more calm. "This better not be some sort of convoluted joke. No offense, but nobody's ever wanted to help me before."

Kirou smiled inwardly at his use of "convoluted", having just explained its meaning to him the day before. "I don't blame you if you don't trust me, Naruto. Instead, trust in Shikaku. If that's not enough then trust in the judgment of the Hokage, who's given us his blessing."

Naruto gave her a smile. "I can't know that for sure, but what the heck. It's not as if I've got anything to lose, eh?"

Kirou didn't let her sadness at that statement show. "Well, you'll get to see him tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about that."

Naruto just gave her an appraising look. "Alright. Then all I have to do is go into the patch of forest next to the Konoha Zoo tomorrow around noon?"

Kirou nodded. "I came to explain what is going to take place in much more detail."

Naruto's eyes lit up as his curiosity was sparked. "I can tell this is going to be interesting."

"Well, as you know, you are to report to the woods next to the Konoha Zoo. We are going to arrange the escape of a bear from the zoo into those woods. The chain on the gate is already a bit rusty, so it will be easy to arrange an 'accident'. You are going to 'be in the area' and 'find out'. Then you're going to announce in stereotypical dumbass fashion that you're going to go find it and try to bring it back. The False Death genjutsu that I will use on the scene will make you appear to be dead to the ninja that the Hokage will send to 'investigate the incident near the Konoha Zoo'. The Nara clan's history of medical research will give me all the flesh and blood I need to incriminate the bear. Once the Anbu returns to the Hokage with his report, the Hokage will immediately travel personally to the scene of your 'death'. He will announce that your corpse cannot fall into enemy hands when buried and then 'cremate' your false body on the spot. After the Anbu is dismissed, you two will be able to talk before I take you to a sanctuary that we've set up for you. You'll stay there for about a week and then Genmaru will meet up with you, which will officially start your journey away from Konoha." Kirou spoke deliberately, making sure Naruto was able to absorb everything she was throwing at him.

Naruto blinked. "This really is going to be super complicated, huh?"

Kirou reached out an arm to ruffle his hair. "Yeah, I warned you. I'm going to get going. You get some rest and make sure you're prepared to put on a good show tomorrow."

Naruto gave an affirming nod. "I'm really not a bad actor ya know."

Kirou allowed a trace of a frown to show. "For our sakes, I certainly hope so." Her demeanor brightened immediately afterwards, well exercised laugh lines appearing on her face. "Well anyway, rest up. Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day."

With that, she dispelled the genjutsu. She took a moment to watch the rhythmic rise and fall of the seven-year-old's chest, a shock of blonde hair sprayed out beneath him.

_I hope this really is for the best. It's a little too late to be having seconds thoughts now, but what if we were discovered? It could cause a civil war in Konoha! We can only do so much to protect his identity, then the rest is left to him. I guess this shows how badly I want an heir. I'm acting so selfishly, risking so much, but…There's something about this boy. If you just take a minute to look at him, you can tell he's going places. I suppose part of me wants to know I had a part in helping him achieve his goals. He's already experienced so much sadness at such a young age… Nobody deserves that. I guess that answers my question. It isn't a matter of what would happen, because I simply won't allow it. And if it did despite my best efforts, I __**will**__ protect this boy, my new grandson, and he __**will **__become the heir of Kirou Nara, the Leaf Shadow, regardless of outside threats or opinions._

Kirou made an affirmative nod to nobody in particular, an especially pointless gesture considering she was invisible in a room of sleeping children. Stepping lightly, she excused herself from the orphanage.

_In Front of Konoha Zoo: 11:57 AM_

Naruto looked on in wonder at the gaudily painted sign in front of the Konoha Zoo that advertised its vast assortment of animals, from zebras to canaries. He'd passed it a couple of times in his wanderings, but had never had any extra money to buy himself a ticket. Besides, he doubted that they would allow a seven-year-old to wander around alone. And even that was assuming that the ticket vendor was either open-minded or ignorant enough to sell him a ticket.

He scanned the area and he immediately noticed red tape strung across the wooded area adjacent to the zoo's entrance. Directly in front of it was a young man, probably in his early twenties, wearing a zoo uniform and looking rather unhappy to be alive. Naruto approached him and his expression became even more sour if that was possible.

"What happened here?" He asked, the epitome of innocence.

It was obvious that the man had been stationed there for the singular purpose of explaining the reason for the tape, and had probably been doing just that constantly since the zoo opened. He heaved a sigh and with practiced precision launched into his explanation. "Our black bear escaped this morning. A citizen reported seeing it along the edge of the woods before returning deeper. We've requested a ninja team to capture it, but there's been no reply so far. Although I can't see why anybody would just randomly walk into these woods, I've been stationed here to make sure nobody crosses this tape, and also, I assume, to satisfy the unending curiosity of our guests." The man blew an errant strand of hair out his face, his expression unchanging.

Naruto took a figurative deep breath as his nerves began to catch up to him.

_Stay cool. Just smile and…_

"Don't worry, I'll be a ninja someday so I'll go get that thing! I mean, how bad can it be? If it's been living at the zoo it's probably just like a big dog, right? Just wait right here mister, Naruto Uzumaki is on the case!" He said in a voice animated enough to be heard by others milling around the entrance.

He noticed some stares out of the corner of his eye. So far so good. Before the man could react, Naruto had dashed by him and under the tape.

"Hey! You little-!" Naruto heard from behind him as he dashed into the forest.

_Well, that's done._

Naruto seriously doubted that the man was about to run in after him considering both his demeanor and the circumstances. He took a moment to look around. He was quite obviously in the middle of the forest at that point. Considering the environment around Konoha, it was quite unremarkable. The native trees towered above him, creating a massive area of shadow and speckled sunlight. Birds chirped in the distance and insects buzzed around him, filling the air with their song. About twenty feet to his left a rabbit peeked out of its hole, and spying Naruto it quickly ducked back inside. He paused to take a breath of the fresh, clean air.

"Hey, it's kinda nice here." He commented aloud as he stretched his arms above his head.

"Well I'm glad you think so, because from what I hear, you'll be spending a lot of time in the forest."

Naruto had initially been startled by the voice, but he soon relaxed as he recognized it as Kirou's.

"Hey there Kirou-san."

The woman in question shimmered into view. She had tied her hair up into a practical bun and was wearing a rather plain neutral brown kimono.

"Please, call me Grandma Kirou. Though I don't mind some formality once in a while either, I'll admit."

Naruto smiled. "All right… Grandma Kirou." The words felt strange and foreign on his lips.

Kirou returned his smile. "I've already taken care of the bear. Now watch and learn youngster."

She slowly formed the rat seal followed by the snake seal, allowing Naruto to absorb how the jutsu was preformed. "Evil Illusion: False Death."

Her hand reached out to touch his chest, and before his eyes what appeared to be his corpse shimmered into view. It was a little disturbing to look at. His normally bright blue eyes were dull and unseeing. He had been completely eviscerated, and his innards were sprawled haphazardly around him. His intestines in particular were merely shredded bits of flesh, oozing blood and trailing down his stomach like creepers. The top portion of his skull had been battered open and his brain was clearly visible seeping its own pool of blood. Deep gashes blazed crimson lines from the area of the missing chunk of his skull down the side of his face, running all the way down to the carnage that used to be his stomach. Lying on its back in a pool of blood, a fragment of its head positioned nearby, it was the paradigm of a horrible, gory death.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat as his eyes went wide.

"Whoa…" Was all the blonde boy could manage.

Kirou looked at him worriedly.

_Maybe I overestimated his fortitude… I hope this isn't traumatizing the poor kid._

"Cool!" He suddenly burst out. "I'm totally gonna have to learn how to do that!"

She let out a sigh of relief.

_Yeah, he might survive as a ninja._

Noting his enthusiasm, Kirou launched into an explanation. "This jutsu, the False Death genjutsu, is used to fool an enemy into thinking you've perished in almost any way imaginable. Drowning, burning, poison, evisceration, electrocution, blunt trauma, anything you have the imagination for. It's an advanced construct-type genjutsu, which means that anybody in the area can see and interact with it although said interactions are, of course, false. Though in this case we don't want anybody to mess with it, because we don't want blood magically disappearing from somebody's hands when the jutsu is dispelled."

Kirou glanced down at the watch she was wearing.

"On that note, the Hokage is scheduled to send his investigator in about two minutes, which means we can expect them in about five. I'll get our guest of honor, wait here."

Naruto gave her an inquisitive look as she walked away, but stayed put nonetheless.

Half-a-minute later, Kirou returned with a black bear in tow. It had flesh and blood smeared across its claws, teeth, and muzzle. As they approached, Naruto was able to see that the animal had a glazed-over look in its eyes.

"Animals are generally unintelligent and therefore incredibly susceptible to control through genjutsu." Kirou answered his unspoken question.

The bear ambled over to the false corpse and collapsed, asleep, when Kirou made a horse seal.

Naruto had a sudden revelation. "You seem to use a lot of genjutsu. Are you really good at it or something?"

Kirou smiled broadly, crinkles appearing around her eyes. "I was considered the genjutsu master of my time. It is my specialty, yes. This is the legacy I hope to pass on to you one day, my gift to my official heir. Although women typically find genjutsu easier to perform due to a natural inclination towards chakra control versus jutsu power, I've done some pioneer work in the field of genjutsu that I don't want to pass outside of my family. I don't expect you to become a genjutsu master like me, your personal style will be completely up to you. Rather I want to pass down what I know to you so you can pass it down to your heirs and so forth. My daughter decided not to become a ninja, and she can't produce children to pass it on to anyways, and Genmaru is already an established ninja with his own repertoire of techniques. What I want is a blank slate that will be able to absorb everything I have to teach. One way or the other, I think you'll come to appreciate how useful genjutsu can be."

Kirou glanced at her watch again. "Getting close to that time. Better safe than sorry." She gave Naruto a serious look. "Absolutely no talking or making noise of any sort, understand?"

Naruto gave her a nod, his eyebrows raised and his lips pressed tightly together. Kirou had to stifle a chuckle as she formed the rabbit and horse seals.

"Okay, here we go. Genjutsu: Mist Flower Veil"

A profusion of pale white petals appeared and spun around them as if caught in a wind. Most of them faded away but some remained, spinning lazily around them about five feet away. Others seemed to have adhered themselves to the two of them. Naruto looked around. "What just happened?", he mouthed to Kirou. "Later.", She mouthed back as she pulled his arm and brought him away from the sleeping bear and his illusionary corpse. Once they were a safe fifteen feet away, she stopped. Naruto noticed with interest that the petals seemed to have followed them.

Naruto staved off his boredom as the next minute passed in complete stillness and silence. Again the only audible sounds were those of nature The anticipation was starting to gnaw at him as he resisted the urge to bounce at the joints of his knees. Finally, what seemed ages later to the small boy, a single ninja appeared looking around tentatively. She was relatively young, probably in her early twenties, and donning a Chuunin vest. Practical straight brown hair fell just past her shoulders as she scanned the area.

Naruto began to sweat as she looked directly at them, but he soon realized that she wasn't looking _at_ them but rather _through_ them. The genjutsu Kirou had used suddenly made a little bit of sense. Naruto felt a thrill go through him, something akin to gloating after getting away with a good prank. He didn't know it then, but that event would be a memory that would stick with him the rest of his life.

Catching sight of the scene of Naruto's staged death, the Chuunin quickly jumped down from her perch on a branch to examine the carnage from about ten feet away, roughly forty-five degrees from Naruto and Kirou's position.

"Wow…" She said, one eyebrow raised. "I never liked the little demon, but…"

She gave a low whistle.

"This… is pretty bad. Even for him."

Her hands moved to her hips as she cocked her head to the side.

"What the hell is _he_ doing here anyway?"

She tapped her lip with a finger as she pondered the question. She weakly shook the finger in front of her as the answer came to her.

"Oh yeah…" She drawled, "That guy at the entrance said something along the lines that he 'Couldn't stop that little brat from trying to help.' as I passed. I guess I know what he meant now. He went after a _bear_? The little demon got what he deserved, after all."

Naruto went rigid from his vantage point, but wisely said nothing. Kirou laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and he visibly relaxed.

The Chuunin stopped to examine the bear slumbering peacefully next to the body as if she had just noticed it. It was clearly covered in the blood of the child it had mauled.

"Well, mission success, I guess. I found the bear and a little added bonus, albeit a gruesome one. Kinda creepy. We worry about ninja, but look at the damage this thing did. Sheesh. I'm getting kinda queasy looking at it."

The young woman made a move to examine the scene more closely and Kirou's hands flew into a flurry of seals.

"Nara Hidden Genjutsu: Shadow of Fear." The grandmotherly figure muttered under her breath.

Naruto watched as the Chuunin hitched a breath. If he were closer, he would have seen that her pupils had visibly dilated. She seemed to shudder slightly as she involuntarily took a step back from the scene.

"Uggh, what was I thinking? No way I'm getting closer to that corpse or the bear. Kami forbid I wake the thing up. I'm a ninja though, I thought I was over things like that by now. I guess the shock just took a minute to set in or something… I just need to get back to the Hokage, make my report, then go home and take a nice bubble bath. My mission parameters were only to verify the presence of the excaped bear in these woods, so… yeah, that's what I'll do…" The young woman had started off with a tone of revulsion in her voice that gradually faded into a mumble.

The Chuunin took off the same way she had come, albeit more quickly.

Once she was safely out of sight, Kirou turned to Naruto. "It's fine to talk for the moment being."

"What did you do to her?" Was the blonde boy's immediate reply.

Kirou smiled smugly. "That, Naruto-chan, is a jutsu that I developed in my study of genjutsu in an effort to find something effective against those arrogant Hyuugas and Uchihas. It doesn't directly affect any senses but rather directly attacks the brain, causing a victim to experience a shift in emotion or mood. It's generally most effective when used against the weak-minded or to amplify emotions somebody is already feeling. Worst case scenario it gives you a slight edge as your opponent focuses on fighting off a sudden, irrational emotion. Best case scenario, it completely cripples their ability to fight. I have a similar jutsu for most emotions that can hamper your ability to fight correctly. That would include Shadow of Rage, Shadow of Despair, Shadow of Lust, one of my personal favorites in my younger years, and Shadow of Doubt.

"Shadow of Lust?" Naruto asked innocently. "What's that mean?"

Kirou pursed her lips. The Nara clan was pretty laid back. They didn't worry about a curse word here, a dirty joke there. Children learned about sex as soon as they were able to comprehend the processes involved. And yet the boy was only seven.

_Eh, he'll have to learn at some point_. She mused.

"It means sexual attraction." She announced. "Depending on how strong minded the target is, the situation, and the oomph you put into it, the jutsu could do anything from making the victim develop temporary mild feelings of attraction to making them rip their clothes off."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Whoa."

Kirou just shook her head, unable to stop from chuckling. She was saddened at the same time by the fact that he had no problems comprehending what despair was.

"Each of them was inspired by one of the five ninjutsu elements. Shadow of Fear represents earth, or being crushed under the weight of your fears. Shadow of Rage represents lightning, like being carried away by the fierce current of your emotions. Shadow of Despair represents water, as in drowning in the sea of your grief. Shadow of Lust represents fire, a reference to the burning passion it can evoke. Finally, Shadow of Doubt is representative of wind, I liken it to any hope or self confidence you have being blown away like leaves in a gale."

Naruto was looking at her strangely.

"What?" She asked.

Naruto paused, deciding whether or not he was going to share his thoughts.

"You want my honest opinion Kirou-san, uh, I mean Grandma Kirou?"

"Yeah, shoot."

"That… was pretty corny."

Kirou laughed quietly and Naruto found himself wanting to laugh along. She flicked him on the nose playfully.

"You… are absolutely right. I thought that was pretty cool in my younger years, but now… not so much. I thought you might like the analogies, but who knew we had a poetic critic in our midst?"

"Analogies?"

"Comparing something to something else."

"Oh."

"Any other questions while we still have time?"

Naruto glanced around. "Yeah."

He made a sweeping motion to indicate the ring of petals currently orbiting them.

"What's this?"

"It's a genjutsu that," She began, but she realized she was stating the obvious and rephrased her answer. "The Mist Flower Veil allows the user to make others invisible as well as themselves. The petals are something that only we can see, and they indicate the radius that you must remain in if you want to stay invisible." Seeing the confused look on Naruto's phrase she rephrased yet again. "It shows how close you have to stay to me to keep your invisibility."

Naruto's eyes lit up with understanding.

"Anyways" She continued, "The jutsu allows multiple people to stay unseen with a single jutsu. The petals you may have noticed sticking to us are another visual cue that only we can see. Those marked by the jutsu will become invisible when entering the circle of petals, and they alone can see each other just fine. Others cannot see this circle or anybody within it, even if they step within this space, and they won't become invisible either. As the user I can mark or unmark people, or even objects, at will, which is highly convenient. The downside is, of course, to stay invisible requires being close to the user which isn't always easy when traveling at high speeds."

Naruto tried his utmost to absorb all of the information that was thrown at him. He knew that Kirou was going out of her way to explain all of this to him not because she enjoyed the sound of her own voice, but because she was wanted him to learn something.

Kirou glanced at her watch again. "About that time again. Better safe than sorry so we'd better quit talking."

Naruto nodded and braced himself for another wait. That time around he didn't have to wait too long before not only the Chuunin from before came into view, but also the flowing robes of the Hokage. They landed a couple feet from the scene of Naruto's "untimely death".

"Here it is." The young woman said apprehensively as she motioned towards the carnage with her head.

Kirou silently made a one-handed seal.

"Release." She muttered.

The bear blinked slowly before rising to its feet.

"Damn" The Chuunin swore, "We woke it up!"

She was unfortunately still under the effects of Kirou's jutsu and was overly susceptible to panic. The Hokage was quick to react.

"Temporary Paralysis Jutsu." He announced gravely as he made a couple of handseals.

The bear fell onto its side with a growl, rigid and eyes wide.

The Hokage took a moment to admire the False Death genjutsu before him. In some twisted sense, it really was a work of art. The attention to detail was amazing. He couldn't stop a disturbing thought from flitting across his mind.

_This couldn't really be him, could it? No… I know Kirou, and the Nara clan for that matter, better than that._

The young girl observed him staring.

"Is there something wrong lord Hokage?"

He turned to face the Chuunin.

"There is a dead seven year old boy in front of us and you're asking me if something is wrong?"

Something about the squint of his eyes made a shiver run down her spine, and the jutsu she was under wasn't helping. She wisely chose to refrain from making a comment on how nobody would miss the monster.

"Well…" The Hokage pondered aloud, "There will have to be an official funeral. However, his body can't be allowed to fall into enemy hands. The seal that held the Kyuubi is a secret formula developed by the Fourth Hokage. On top of that, if he were to be revived through ninjutsu, there's no telling what kind of residual essence of the Kyuubi could lie within him to be exploited. There's really only one option."

The Third turned to face his only company. "Grab that bear and back up."

She hesitated, eyeing the bear nervously. The Hokage gave her an exasperated look.

"What's wrong with you, girl? Would you kindly just do as I ask? It's quite safe, I assure you. Animals have almost no resistance against this jutsu."

Not for the first time that day, Kirou stifled a giggle as she released the jutsu on the poor woman.

The young girl visibly steeled herself as the jutsu lifted.

"I apologize lord Hokage. I don't know what's gotten into me. I think the brutality of his death rubbed me the wrong way or something."

She proceeded to comply with his demand, barely able to drag the hulking beast by one of its large legs while enhancing her strength with chakra. Once she was safely away from Naruto's "body", the Hokage ran through a series of handseals.

"Fire Style: Grand Fire Ball Jutsu"

The robed figure took a deep breath before exhaling a nearly white-hot ball of fire over the illusionary corpse. He held the jutsu longer than necessary, making sure to give a good performance. The force of the jutsu was causing his hat and robes to ruffle in a wavelike pattern. That combined with the poorly concealed look of anger on his face and the spectacle of the massively powerful jutsu before him was more than enough to give him an air of incredible power and majesty.

Naruto's eyes went wide at the sight of the overpowered jutsu. He could feel a warm breeze all the way over where he was sitting. For the first time in Naruto's perception, the Third Hokage seemed truly scary, and Naruto was forced to remember that he was one of the most powerful ninja in the village, if not the most. To his left, Kirou repeated the handseals for the False Death genjutsu.

When the fire finally cleared, there was only a large singed circle containing an indiscriminate pile of ash left to show that anything had ever existed there.

The Chuunin visibly paled at the display of might. The Third turned to her.

"Your role here is finished. The runaway bear has been located. I'll send a retrieval team to collect it and return it to the zoo. I'm going to need some time to think about how to best announce this to the village. I figure the truth is best, but maybe I should keep it quiet for the moment? No. They need to know."

Seeing the Hokage was just debating with himself, the Chuunin bowed.

"I'll be going now, Hokage-sama."

"Yes, yes…" He muttered.

She accepted that as a dismissal and took her leave. Once the Chuunin was safely away, Kirou formed a one-handed seal.

"Mist Flower Marking."

A flurry of white petals spun around the Hokage, leaving some adhered to him. Suddenly able to see them, he walked over to Naruto and Kirou's position.

"Why hello you two." He offered with a grim smile. "I must admit, that genjutsu was top-notch."

"I still got it." Kirou exclaimed, rubbing her nails against her shirt and then examining them.

"Hey old man." Was Naruto's ever-so-polite reply.

"So…" The Hokage began, looking strangely depressed, "I suppose it's a bit late to be asking if you're sure you want to go through with this. I there was more I could have done for you up to this point, but hopefully now you'll have a chance at a new future. I hope I can at least make things right, fix some of the damage done. I'll take care of making sure everybody believes you've died. Though I can't help but worry for you, I suppose this may work out well for many people involved."

He paused to heave a heavy sigh.

"I heard from Kirou that she explained your "unique situation" to you. I hope you can forgive me for not being honest with you. Please just trust me when I say that I had my reasons."

"Eh, it's okay old man. Looks like things are gonna turn out just fine after all." Naruto replied with a grin.

The Hokage's face was still strangely sad.

_I'm sorry Minato. I can't just sit idly by and watch as this child's life unfolds into a tragedy. You said yourself that bearing your name would only bring him to inherit the hatred of the Stone and Rain ninja. You were willing to sacrifice his happiness because you wanted him to survive past infancy. You were willing to trade the spoiled, sheltered life he would have lived as your heir for one of misery so he would have the motivation to learn to properly defend himself. He already wants to be a ninja, now he has a chance to have both happiness and life. That's what you would want for him, even if it meant never carrying on your legacy, I'm sure of it._

"Uh, you alright old man?"

He snapped out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Naruto. Though I doubt that I'll ever call you by that name again. You realize that when you return we have to act like we've never met… But no dwelling on the negative. I wish you happiness in your life, whatever path it make take."

The Third glanced at Kirou and then back at Naruto.

"As for one last matter, considering the intent behind the law against speaking of your situation, I've found it quite unnecessary to impose the death penalty on Kirou. However I hope you don't assume that means that I will be willing to overlook any future infractions of such a serious nature."

Kirou gave him a serious look.

"Stop being troublesome. Worry not Hokage-sama. You know for a fact that we'll do everything in our power to keep his secret safe."

The Hokage nodded and gave an affirming grunt he before bent down to give Naruto a firm hug. Afterwards, he pulled away, straightened his hat, and took a few steps backwards.

"I'll see you in a couple of years so this isn't really goodbye, just see you later. You be good to your new parents, okay?"

Naruto have him a thumbs-up.

"Yeah! I'm gonna be a super strong ninja too, you'll see!"

The Hokage gave a dry, rasping laugh before turning to Kirou.

"You better spoil this boy rotten to make up for lost time, you hear me?"

Kirou ruffled the blonde's hair.

"Well… when we're not training, you have a deal."

The Hokage nodded, took one last look at the pair, then departed without a word.

Naruto turned to Kirou, his head cocked to the side.

"So what now?"

"Now we get you to a place you'll be staying at for the next six days. I can visit you at night, but I can't be noticeably missing for six days. This stay over is mostly so that your death and the day that Genmaru leaves on his mission don't overlap. Also, we'll be altering your appearance during that time."

She held out her hand. Naruto took it and the next thing he knew he was riding piggyback on while flying through the trees.

"We can get to the walls pretty easily from here. From there we'll head to the spot you'll be staying at. That's another thing you can thank the Hokage for. I had no idea something of this sort existed." Kirou spoke over her shoulder.

Soon they approached the massive walls, the trees leading all the way to the edge of the imposing structure. Without stopping, Kirou leaped out of the trees onto the vertical surface of the wall and _continued moving_.

Naruto grinned.

_Cool!_

She quickly scaled the surface and made her way down the opposite side. They were in the trees again soon after, heading Kami-knows-where. Soon they touched down in a clearing with a large boulder in the center of it. Kirou approached the large stone and channeled some chakra into it. A blazing blue kanji appeared on it almost instantly. Still touching the rock with one hand, she formed a one-handed seal as she spoke the password. She couldn't help but take on a dry, slightly peeved look and tone as she spoke.

"Icha Icha Paradise."

The kanji faded away as a complex series of seals began to appear on the boulder as if being written into existence at that very moment. Glowing more brightly, they detached themselves and remained floating in the air. A circle blazed its way around the seals and the air around the seal formation visibly distorted. Kirou whistled.

"This is a masterpiece." She commented. "You see these seals here, the ones around the edge? Those are just to suppress the chakra signature of this thing. The rest is pretty amazing as well, but much more technical."

She took his hand.

"Come on, lets take a look."

He gave her a quizzical look but followed her towards the floating blue… whatever it was. He watched in amazement as she seemed to disappear as her body overlapped with it. Soon he was through as well.

Naruto turned in a circle in an attempt to gain his bearings as he looked around in amazement. He was in a large room lit by what appeared to be wall mounted oil lamps. The floor was made of stone and the walls were both brown and unusually smooth. Along the walls were several bookshelves full of books. Beside them were a couple of wooden chairs with black upholstery. Near one corner of the room there was a large bed and two smaller ones along with a simple wooden door. On the opposite side of the room were two more wooden doors identical to the first. Behind him, the seal formation from before was glowing brightly on the wall. There were a couple of vents around the room, apparently to circulate air, but no windows. Kirou silently dispelled the genjutsu still lingering around them.

"Where… _are we_? Naruto asked, looking at his strange surroundings.

Kirou shrugged. She turned around and touched the seal formation before she spoke. It's glow faded, leaving only an etched impression on the wall.

"I suppose only the Hokage knows for sure. All I know is this is a sanctuary originally meant for housing important people at risk for assassination and the like. However, logic set in soon after they created it when they realized that the more people stayed here, the more people would know about it, and subsequently it would become progressively more useless. So it's been reclassified as a S-class secret retreat to be used only under the most dire of circumstances. The Hokage bent the rules a little, but he's one of the only people that knows that this place exists so… Anyways, let's take a look around, shall we?"

They first approached the door by the bed. When opened, it revealed a small, but complete bathroom with a shower, toilet, sink, and mirror. The cabinet under the sink held a large store of first-aid supplies.

They exited the bathroom and crossed the large room to the other two doors. Opening one revealed a small kitchen with a stove and an oversized pantry that contained a massive amount of canned foods and bottled water. They checked the cabinets and found more than enough pans, utensils, and the like, which thankfully included a can opener. There was also a sink with a bottle of dish soap and a sponge sitting nearby.

They made their way to the last remaining door. It turned out to be a laundry room with a washer and dryer of an ancient model. The room also contained a small linen closet with extra towels and sheets as well as a couple boxes of laundry soap and dryer sheets.

With their tour done, they returned to the main living area.

"Well Naruto, it seems like you're set. Somebody could live here a lot longer than six days if they needed to. Now lets get started on your new look."

Kirou reached into her kimono and produced both a small flat black case and a bottle of pills. She looked at the pills, then sighed.

"I should have grabbed a bottled water from the pantry. Let me go grab one."

She returned with a bottle that claimed its water was from a secluded spring in the land of whirlpool. Opening the medicine bottle, she removed two circular black pills and handed them to Naruto along with the bottled water. He followed the pills with a swig of the water and looked at her expectantly.

She returned his stare blankly for a moment before realizing he was waiting for an explanation.

"Oh! Those pills are a product of Nara cosmetics research. They deliver pigment directly to the hair follicles on your head, and also displaces pigment in your existing hair. The end result is your hair color changes, and your roots grow up the same color. In this case your new hair color is going to be jet black, just like a real Nara. I'll tell you, it took several reformulations before we found something that wouldn't affect arm and leg hair as strongly as your head. Our test subject was _not_ pleased when she found that every hair on her body had become deep maroon and oh-so-noticeable. Fortunately, her boyfriend seemed to think it was every bit as funny as I did."

_I almost peed my pants laughing when I saw what happened to that awful woman. Kami, I hope she never found out the third time was on purpose._

Kirou chuckled and her eyes became distant as she drifted into a humorous memory. Moments later she snapped out of her reverie to continue with her explanation.

"The formula does however work full strength on another type of hair, though that'll only be relevant in approximately five years."

Naruto gave her a blank look before a spark of recognition lit up in his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I know what you mean."

She just shook her head and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

_Genmaru, if you don't do it first, the moment he walks back into this village is the moment I assault him with that troublesome 'growing up' lesson._

She saw he was still looking at her, somewhat confused at her suddenly spacey behavior.

"Nevermind that. For the first year you're taking these pills, you'll have to dose yourself every month. After that, you only have to take them every six months to maintain your new color. It'll take about a day for it to completely alter the hair you've already got, but after that you're good to go."

She reached out to touch Naruto's whisker marks and he laughed. After all, they were unusually ticklish.

"Next to go are these."

She handed him the bottle of medicine and opened the black case. Inside, on a cushion of a velvet-like material were two skin colored rectangles. It wasn't until she picked one up that he saw the way it dangled and he realized that it _was_ skin.

"All right, go hop on one of the beads and lie down."

Naruto complied, making a beeline for the largest bed. Once he was lying down, she set down the case and placed one of the pieces of skin on each cheek, covering his birthmarks. She flashed through some handseals before placing a palm over both skin segments.

"Face Stealer Jutsu!"

There was a brief flash of chakra as Naruto felt an electric tingle go through his cheeks. Kirou removed her palms to admire her handiwork and nodded, satisfied. She led Naruto to the bathroom to see his reflection in the mirror. He wordlessly admired his new lack of whisker marks, and could have sworn there were already small rings of black appearing on the roots of his hair.

"Here." Kirou said as she made the rat seal. "Check this out."

Naruto's hair changed completely to black. The style had changed to still be spiky but with individual spikes that were much smaller in size that his current ones. Naruto could only stare. He looked like a completely different person. He touched the area where his whisker marks used to occupy. It still tickled, but not as much as it had a minute ago.

"What exactly did you do to my birthmarks?"

"The Face Stealer Jutsu is a complex medical jutsu that fuses another individual's skin and or facial features with yours on the cellular level. Basically, you take on their facial appearance permanently and it grows back even if it gets damaged. Just like normal skin. In this case, I didn't use an entire face but rather just a grafted segment of skin. The jutsu can be undone if you want, but in this case we're probably going to leave it in effect indefinitely. A little fun fact for you: The jutsu is normally used to completely remove somebody's face so you can fuse it to your own in the manner I just did as a disguise, which only leaves the "donor's" skull and muscle behind. It looks like something out of a horror movie if you ask me."

"That's awesome!" Naruto cheered as he imagined what she had described.

Kirou shook her head.

_Well, if he doesn't become a ninja he could always be a coroner._

Naruto was again looking at her, innocently unaware of the often blunt, occasionally abstract musings of the former Leaf Shadow.

AN: HOLY MOLY, FINISHED! Sorry for the wait to anybody who was looking forward to seeing the next chapter. I've had a lot of stuff going on lately (who doesn't?) and it doesn't seem like that's about to change any time soon. I hope this concept is original enough to hold your interest. ( The specific, of course. Not the general. :P ) I appreciate all constructive criticism, and all reviews in general as long as they are polite. A big thank you goes out to all of you who have reviewed so far and encouraged me to continue. Please continue to provide me with feedback as the story progresses.

~LP


	3. Chapter 3

Shadow In the Leaves: Chapter 3

Naruto was _bored_.

Kirou had been able to stay with him a while longer, but inevitably she had been forced to leave so she wouldn't be conspicuously missing for too long. She no longer left the Nara complex as often as she used to and starting again now would be slightly suspicious. After all, _something_ would have to be holding her attention. And so she had said her goodbyes for the day, giving him a grandmotherly kiss on the forehead before reactivating the gateway and stepping through. It returned to its gray, inactive state moments later.

Now Naruto was stuck in… wherever the heck it was. There was absolutely no way to check the time considering the strange place had no windows and was lacking a clock. The only form of entertainment he could find was the large selection of books, neatly lined up in their rows. It wasn't as if he couldn't read, but many of the books were obviously suited to older readers and his reading ability was pretty basic. The orphanage had required the children to take literacy classes, sure. However, the instructor had been less than happy whenever Naruto had asked for assistance. Eventually he had just stopped bugging the man and absorbed as much as he could when the man explained things to the class.

Naruto continued to pour over the shelves which were thankfully short enough for him to have access to the top shelf if he stood on his tiptoes. He spotted a promising title: The Ninja Nations. He opened it to a random page and began to read.

"The nation of Grass is known for its export of extremely high quality rice. Producking… no, producing over five-thousand tons of rice each year, there are an estimated two-thousand rice paddies scattered throughout the nation de-spit its small size compared to its neighbores, oh wait, neighbors."

Naruto have the book a disgruntled look before he tossed it over his shoulder.

"Booooring."

He continued looking for a suitable book to stave off his boredom. He continued until something caught his eye. Something orange. It was tucked into corner of the shelf he was going over. He pulled in out to find a small orange book about the size of a journalist's notepad. Its pages were dog-eared and slightly yellowy; someone had obviously read it quite a bit. He raised an eyebrow at the illustration on the cover depicting a man with a heart above his head chasing after an excited looking woman. Something about the title sparked a jolt of recognition in his brain.

"Icha Icha Paradise: Voulme 3…?"

Then it hit him. It hadn't been too long ago that he'd been slinking around the naughty section of the local bookstore. He'd inconspicuously selected a magazine for merit of its pictures, but a similar book had been for sale. If he recalled correctly the book was red and it was volume seven, but definitely the same series. It was hard to forget a name and illustration like that.

So it was a naughty book? Naruto looked around shiftily before smiling slightly. Nobody was here, so no harm no foul, right? Besides, Kirou seemed to be slightly annoyed with her impression that he was more innocent then he really was. He opened the cover to the title page. Something was scrawled on the blank page preceding it.

Sensei: I regret not being able to deliver this in person, but you know how things are. Happy birthday! Have you finally lost count now, or what? I'm happy to report that this is a first edition copy of my latest novel. Enjoy it, and don't you dare pretend you don't like my books. After all, who was the one that initially introduced me to the joys of the female form? That reminds me, I've yet to locate either of my former teammates. They know how to keep hidden as well as I do, apparently. Stay in good health and continue to put that crystal ball jutsu to use, eh?

He couldn't make heads or tails out of the message so he turned the page, shrugging. Naruto's head remain tilted to the side from the moment he read the first line. Minutes later he had found a dictionary and plopped down on the bed, both tomes at the ready.

For a book aimed at adults the language was pretty simple for the most part, and when it wasn't he just had to look it up a word or two in the dictionary.

The story was actually quite interesting to the seven year old. He actually managed to finish it over the course of the six days he spent in near solitary confinement, alternating between reading and running laps around the strange room to burn some energy, always replacing it and the dictionary on the shelf when he woke up in the morning. Although, the only way he could tell was the time he read off the analog watch Kirou had brought him on the second day.

The plot of the book went roughly like so:

A widowed noblewoman from the court of a powerful Daimyo spent the majority of her days tied up in boring politics and tired company until she came across an injured, and very buff, man while walking through her private forest. He reveals himself as a soldier of the opposing nation currently at war with her own. She nurses him back to health anyway and the two began to spend time with each other. This of course involved activities such as lovemaking, walks in the garden, sex, sharing stories about their home countries, coitus, dancing, and strange games that Naruto knew didn't qualify as sex but came pretty close. Even if the descriptions of their activities left Naruto confused, he could always reference the handy glossary the author had, for some unfathomable reason, thrown in at the end of the book.

Then came the evil lord Gaeru, a man Naruto came to hate for two reasons. First, he schemed to kill the widow's lover, discovering him during an attempt to peek on her while bathing, and take her as his wife. Secondly, whenever he appeared Naruto knew that the dictionary next to him was about to see some use. While Naruto didn't necessarily dislike the chance to learn one or two new words, nobody had an excuse to say the sentence "I shall expedite my ploy and deign to personally dispose of that putrescent obstruction who dares to purloin the affections of my love."

The book reached its exciting conclusion when the warrior killed Gaeru in a duel for the widow's love, despite having been poisoned before the match by the scheming bastard. With some "coaxing" from his lover, the warrior found the strength to pull through and made a full recovery. The novel ended with the two being happily married and having children that grew up with a reputation of being as well-endowed as their parents.

Naruto was still far too young to really appreciate the adult content of the book beyond the fact that it was "naughty", much like the feeling he got when pulling pranks. Thus the future ninja was spared from its giggle inducing effects and he got the pleasure of reading a good story over the course of what would have been a very boring week. Plus he had added a plethora of new words to his vocabulary, though some of them weren't quite wholesome.

Naruto was bouncing on the bed wondering what the heck he was going to do for the last leg of his stay in the mysterious place when the portal on the far wall came to life. Naruto froze as he realized he had left his reading material sitting on the bed when he finished it. As quickly as he could, he stuffed the two books under his bed and straightened up just in time to see Kirou walking through the portal. She didn't miss his hurried motion and gave him a perplexed look.

"What are you doing, Naruto-chan?"

"I was stretching." Naruto lied smoothly as he bent down to touch his toes. "I get so stiff being cooped up in here."

After all, he hadn't been lying when he said he was a good actor. That was a skill he had developed quickly as he spent every day pretending his life wasn't miserable.

She didn't get a chance to express whether or not she believed him, because almost immediately after Naruto's comment another person walked through the gate. Naruto instantly knew that it must have been Genmaru, his new father.

He was an about an inch taller than Kirou, probably sitting around six feet. His spiky jet black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that reached his shoulder blades, sitting comfortably at a diagonal angle instead of falling limp. His clean-shaven facial features were gentler than his brother's, less sharp, but the resemblance was definitely there. Over a long-sleeved charcoal gray muscle shirt he wore a thin black vest embroidered with the Nara clan's seal, which seemed to be an abstract interpretation of a pair of antlers weaving themselves into an intricate pattern with a vague humanoid shape at its center . He wore a pair of standard black ninja pants, light and with plenty of pockets. On his waist was a ninja tool bag that was larger than those of standard issue. He also sported a small silver loop through one earlobe, identical to Shikaku's except for the obvious fact that he only wore one.

He offered Naruto a smile.

"Hello there Naruto, I've heard a lot about you. I'm sure you've already guessed, but I am Genmaru. Gen for short. Although I hope that you'll call me dad at some point in the future."

"Nice to meet ya." Naruto offered. "Uhh, Genmaru-san, I-I mean dad, I, uh…"

Genmaru walked over to him to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about calling me Genmaru for now. I realize how awkward it must be to call a man that you don't know "dad". To be perfectly honest, this is a little awkward for me as well, and I don't want to make you feel strange by calling you "son". Sow how about we just call each other Gen and Naruto for the time being?

Kirou glanced at Genmaru, an unspoken message in her eyes.

"Wait, I take that back. You're going to need a new name to go with your new look."

Indeed Naruto had a new look, as his hair had completed its transformation to jet black within the second day of his stay in the sanctuary. Shortly after that, Kirou had proceeded to procure a pair of scissors and deftly cut Naruto's hair into the style she had projected onto him earlier. He couldn't stop freaking out whenever he saw his reflection. He did look totally different, after all.

"Oh, oh!" Naruto piped up. "How about Shinmaru the Legendary Ninja of Awesomeness?"

They both gave him dry stares in response.

"Naruto, don't be intentionally troublesome." Kirou said as she nailed him with a look that mothers learn from years of experience.

"Ooookay."

Genmaru shook his head at the display.

"How about Kihaku?" He offered helpfully.

Kirou laughed.

"I'd say that's appropriate. What do you think Naruto?"

He paused and scratched his chin in a thoughtful pose. "Kinda like a pun or something, eh? I could live with that I guess. It kinda augments the irony of when I act happier that I really am."

"Augments?" Kirou asked, tilting her head.

"It means to make stronger or more pronounced."

"I know what it means, Naruto. I'm curious where you learned that word."

"In a book." Naruto said mysteriously, albeit a little too quickly.

Specifically in the sentence, "The thin ribbon augmented the already exquisite curves of her breasts."

Naruto giggled and Kirou raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Okay, so maybe even seven year olds weren't completely immune to the effects of the Icha Icha series, even if they just innocently found things funny rather than laughing with a perverted appreciation.

"So it's settled?" Genmaru asked. "Make sure you're comfortable with being called that for a very long time."

Naruto squinted one eye.

"Eh, I dunno. It's not like I don't like it, but it's kinda… meh. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't really roll off of the tongue and it almost sounds a little girly or something."

Naruto didn't want to hurt the man's feelings, but he felt that some improvement was called for if he had to go by the name in the future.

"Hmmm." Genmaru said as he scratched at his chin. "Do you have any other ideas?"

"Tattoi?" Kirou proposed.

"That's really sweet, but no."

They had pondered in silence for a minute more when Naruto piped up.

"I've got it!"

They both turned to him.

"Hmm?"

"So, it's kinda like another pun. Since I'm gonna get another chance at life, ya know?"

The two looked at him expectantly.

"Jinsei! It sounds like a guy, and it rolls off the tongue pretty easy."

Genmaru nodded appreciatively as he looked at Kirou.

"I like it."

"I do too." Kirou affirmed. "Excellent work Naruto-chan, or should I say Jinsei-chan."

"Alright! Score one for me!" Naruto cheered as he began to do a little happy dance. "Jinsei, Jinsei, Jensei Jensei, Jensei…"

Genmaru chuckled along with Kirou before he cleared his throat to get Naruto's attention.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have to discuss a few things and then we'll be off for the world's longest father-son bonding trip."

Naruto stopped abruptly to give Genmaru his full attention.

"First of all, we'll be using your new name from now on. Calling yourself Naruto or answering to that name would be a big mistake, so do not. Secondly, prepare to train, and I mean train, during our time away. And when we get back for that matter. I promised I would help you become a ninja, and I'm not about to do a half-assed job and wait to get the notice of your death in the mail."

Naruto gulped at that. Genmaru's demeanor had suddenly gotten very serious, almost scary.

"Being a ninja is a serious commitment. It takes a sacrifice of your time and your mental health. You have to be willing to do things, terrible things, even if you don't like it. The hard truth, Naruto, is that ninjas must lie, steal, and even murder. It isn't nearly as glamorous as people think. Besides that, ninja have an obligation to be as strong as they possibly can be. They must train regularly so they don't get killed. Or worse, a weak ninja can get other people killed if he fails to protect them or puts them in harms way when they have to pick up their slack. Not only that, but a weak ninja can fail to complete an objective and bring negative consequences upon their village."

Genmaru paused to make sure that Naruto was paying attention. The boy was wide-eyed, very obviously paying close attention.

"So Naruto, I have a hypothetical question for you."

"What?" He asked, blinking as if awaking from a trance.

"Could you… take a life?"

Naruto stared at his feet. Somehow he had know that was coming. Could he really kill somebody? Another living, breathing human being? He couldn't bring himself to answer.

Genmaru's face softened at the boy's reaction. He knew he was being harsh, but the lesson had to be taught and the sooner the better. It would ultimately serve to help him maintain him not only to maintain his sanity, but could also save his life or that of his team mates.

"Let me rephrase that. If you knew that you could save your own life, a team mate's life, or the life of an innocent by killing someone, could you do it? Just be honest with yourself, it doesn't mean something is wrong with you if you say yes."

Naruto was silent for a while longer before he lifted his gaze to meet Genmaru's. The black haired man was impressed when he saw the icy cool that had come over the boy's eyes, leaving no trace of the warmth they usually held.

So this is the "Other Naruto" that Shikamaru told my brother about. He's already developed something of a split personality due to his abnormal life it seems. Normally that comes with some experience in performing the less glamorous tasks of a ninja . Maybe he'll be spared some grief because of it.

"If it's my life or theirs, sorry, but I'm gonna have to choose me. I'm not gonna let anybody hurt my team mates either. But people that hurt innocent people, I'll put them in the ground without blinking, count on it."

The seven year old said the last sentence with such calm deadly intent, Genmaru had no doubt that he would do it.

"What if you received the order to kill someone? If it wasn't spur of the moment, but rather very premeditated? Could you do it, even if they weren't directly hurting anybody? Assume there's somebody selling Konoha's secrets, or some foreign lord gathering a little too much power for their own good. Could you act as what you are, a soldier of Konoha, and put aside your personal feelings for the benefit of your village?"

Naruto returned his gaze to his shoes, demeanor returning to that of a frightened child. Back to square one. Could he really kill someone so casually? Even if he didn't have to like it, could he do it? What had he just said about people that harmed innocents? Though the examples weren't really innocent, he could tell what Genmaru was driving at.

Genmaru kept a straight face although his insides were churning. Was this how his father had felt?

"Let me ask you another question that may help you. Why do you want to be a ninja? What motivates you to become a soldier of your village?"

Naruto at least had an instant response for that question.

"Cause I want people to notice me and think I'm as cool as I think the Hokage are. I want to be the Hokage ya know."

"If you wanted people to notice you and think you're cool, you could become an artist. Why do you really want to be a ninja? Think about it. You'll realize what I've already guessed."

"Because…" Naruto began, "I…I wanna be strong. I wanna be able to live my life however I want and not get any crap for it. Nobody tells strong ninja what to do, or calls them names. People give them what they want because they could just take it anyways. And everybody respects them. I want that."

"What you want," Genmaru offered, "Is the power to shape your own destiny. To chart your own path in the world despite the label others have put on you and have people respect you for who you are. Right?"

"Exactly!" Naruto gushed, overjoyed that somebody understood him enough to put his feelings into words.

"So, back to my other question. You'll be given the power to shape your own future. In return, a ninja is expected to sacrifice everything for the common good. In essence, it's the ultimate form of self sacrifice, gaining the power to do anything only to give it away to your village. That's what makes being a ninja such a noble, if gritty, profession. Often times it means getting your hands dirty and bearing the burden of doing something you don't like. Could you do it?"

Naruto looked him in the eye and for moment Genmaru could have sworn he saw a glimmer of that icy coolness from before amid the maelstrom of discomfort they projected.

"Honestly, I don't know if I could. I mean, I think I might be able to, but…"

The boy's eyes began to tear up after he made the statement.

"What's wrong with me? Only psychos are okay with killing people right? I mean, I thought about killing someone and I felt pretty bad, but I'd live, ya know?"

Genmaru bent down to give the boy a quick hug before wiping away the tears beading around his eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm upsetting you, I really am. But you have to realize that what I'm telling you is for your benefit in the long run. If killing an enemy is the quickest way to remove a threat, then you need to be able to do it and worry about it later. Hesitation will get you killed, and as I've mentioned your team mates can suffer also. Remember this: Killing somebody is final, decisive. There are a lot of ninja out there that will kill you if you don't kill them first. It's often the fastest way of neutralizing a threat. Dead people don't wake up to raise alarms or get back up to fight you or somebody else. Plus they don't tell stories or leak information. If they were a bad person, then there is a zero percent chance of them returning to whatever criminal activity they previously performed. Ultimately, any ninja that makes it past Genin rank is going to see a lot of bloodshed in their lifetime. Your training is going to take that into account, and I want you to be properly prepared. Like I said, I'm not going to sign your death warrant by giving you a half-assed shinobi education like the academy is willing to."

Naruto just sniffed, words failing him for the moment.

Kirou examined the teary-eyed boy before turning to Genmaru.

"Was that strictly necessary? He's seven years old and you're treating him as if he's an ANBU recruit. He won't have to worry about that for quite some time yet."

Genmaru's eyes sharpened as he returned Kirou's stare.

"We didn't go through so much trouble to just watch him die. You say I'm treating him like ANBU, but what else do I know to teach him? If he wants to be a ninja, I'm going to train him as a ninja, damn it! You don't want him to be able to properly defend himself?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it. All I said is that it could have waited until he was a little older."

"I didn't want him to have any delusions. You explained the technical details of his new life to him but conveniently left that part out. Knowing the truth about Ninja could save his life!"

"Or," Kirou said as she put her arm on Naruto's shoulder and pulled him close, "It could endanger his mental health at such a young age!"

Genmaru huffed and crossed his arms.

"Look at him, he's fine. He'd a tough kid. You said yourself that he thought your False Death genjutsu was awesome. He's had a crappy life, and if he hasn't cracked yet I doubt that this is going make him."

Seeing the sparks flying between the two, Naruto attempted to pacify them.

"Grandma Kirou, I'm fine. Really. What he said is true. It's just the part of being a ninja that I never really wanted to think about. But if there's one thing I know, it's that pretending something's not true doesn't make it go away. I would have had to face the truth one day, and sooner is better than later, eh?"

Naruto gave her a slightly forced grin.

"Besides, like he said, I'm tough! I'm not gonna let anything break me, so don't worry ok? I'm gonna be a super strong ninja, even if it means I have to do stuff I don't like."

Kirou gave him a nod, a sad smile on her face. She turned back to Genmaru with a serious expression.

"I'm entrusting this boy to you for two years. I'm not going to tell you how you should train him, but you listen up. If this boy comes back a hollow shell like some of those ANBU trainees, you're going to spend the rest of your days in Konoha's asylum."

Genmaru rolled his eyes.

"Tch. Can we stop with the ANBU low-blows? You know very well that's all I know, and I'll be trying my best to scale it down. Just settle down, troublesome woman. He's seven. He wont even be starting at the academy until he returns. There's no training he could possibly do at the age of seven that could have such an ill-effect on him. I'm just going to give him a head start on the academy techniques, which as you know are perfectly capable of being taught to someone of his age if they have the will to stick with it. That way he can get through the academy without having to worry about grasping the basic techniques. That will, of course, give him the time and energy to do some much more useful training with us. You do want him to be able to learn some of your techniques before he's looking at becoming a Chuunin, right?"

Naruto blinked.

"What do you mean, before I'm looking at becoming a Chuunin? What would the holdup be if I didn't go away to train with you?"

Kirou took point for the explanation.

"Genjutsu require finesse and even the lowliest genjutsu beyond the Clone Jutsu are considered low-level Chuunin techniques, very high Genin at the absolute lowest. Because of that, other than the standard Clone Jutsu, the academy's coverage of genjutsu is nothing more than an explanation of its function. Other than that, they require only one other technique for graduation that is remotely like genjutsu, the Transformation Jutsu, which is technically a ninjutsu despite its odd behavior. My point is they don't give you the skills you need to perform genjutsu in the academy, meaning to learn it you have to do your own research. That's why there are so few ninja capable of using advanced genjutsu. I can teach you everything you need to know and more, but not if you're too busy trying to learn the Transformation Technique or figure out what end of a kunai to point at the enemy. The plus side to all of the extra training will be that you'll probably be the only Genin in Konoha capable of using genjutsu. That means you'll have a huge edge over your fellow ninja. That'll be compounded when you take the Chuunin exams because dispelling genjutsu is considered a Chuunin level technique as well. Play your cards right and you'll have absolutely no competition outside of the Hyuuga, Uchiha, or another rare Genin that's familiar with genjutsu."

Naruto's eyes were wide.

"Whoa. Is genjutsu really that powerful?"

Kirou smiled.

"The application and effects of genjutsu may be fairly complicated, but their effect on a battle is pretty straightforward. Either your opponent dispels it on time or forty-nine times out of fifty they'll lose. Since Genin aren't taught how to dispel genjutsu, you do the math."

Naruto pumped his fist.

"Awesome! You're going to teach me that?"

Kirou gave him a smile.

"If you're willing, then yes."

Genmaru gave her a stern look from his position.

"You're placing a high expectation on him. Some Genin simply don't have the capacity to perform genjutsu. Many of them are advanced techniques, after all."

Kirou waved her hand at him dismissively.

"I know, but most Genin don't have an ANBU agent and the Leaf Shadow as their personal tutor."

A lull in the conversation followed the last comment and Genmaru cleared his throat.

"Well, I think it's about time for us to hit the road."

Kirou nodded and produced a small shinobi backpack from inside her kimono. She handed it to Naruto with a smile.

"For you, Jinsei-chan. Genmaru will have to be seen leaving the village through the main gate, otherwise his departure may be subject to scrutiny. Normally a clone would suffice, but on the off-hand chance that someone or something may attempt to interact with it, he'll have to go in person. This part of the plan is pretty simple compared to the rest. You'll come with me to a point where we'll meet Genmaru outside of the city. That's all on my end for now. From then on out you'll be in the care of Genmaru."

She looked over at Genmaru to make sure she had explained to his satisfaction. He gave her an affirming nod before turning to Naruto.

"You ready kiddo?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, you bet!"

Genmaru smiled.

"We're going to have a great time, right Naruto?"

"Yeah!"

Genmaru's expression darkened as he bopped Naruto on the head.

Naruto looked up, glowering.

"Owww, what was that for ya psycho?"

"Wrong. Answer to that name in the future and someone knocking you on the head will be the least of your concerns."

Naruto's pout disappeared as the lesson sunk in.

"Oh… I get it. Sorry."

Genmaru smiled again, and it was genuine.

"That's okay, but remember the lesson you just learned. It would be really, really bad if you answered to that name."

Naruto gave a sharp, brief nod.

"Kay."

Genmaru ruffled Naruto's hair and turned to Kirou.

"Okay, for real this time. Let's get this show on the road."

"Wait!", Kirou exclaimed, "I'll show this to you now so you can change."

She unzipped the backpack that she had gifted him with earlier and produced a thin rectangular box from within it. She handed Naruto the box and looked at him expectantly.

The small boy eyed it with glee, always ecstatic to receive a present. He removed the top portion to reveal a set of clothes neatly folded within. It consisted of a brown tee shirt and a pair of khaki pants that were a lighter shade and had plenty of pockets.

"So, what do you think?" Kirou asked.

"It's very… brown." Naruto said, but was already tearing off his ragged old clothes to put them on.

Kirou chuckled.

"I picked brown because grime doesn't show up well on it. Lord knows what kind of training you two will be doing. Also, though I suppose it's more of a girl thing, I picked it because it complements your new look."

"Thanks grandma Kirou!" Naruto said with a smile.

Even if the clothes were a bit dull in coloring, it was still thoughtful for her to buy him a new outfit. He made a move to replace his worn out sneakers when Kirou tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ah ah ah, hold on a minute." She said as she reached into the backpack once more. Moments later she produced a pair of small black shoes. Although they looked like running shoes, something about them seemed different, more streamlined. "Though I'm sure you'll outgrow them soon enough, these are also for you. They're made by a company that manufactures shoes for ninja. They're supposed to be designed for maximum comfort in any situation."

Naruto likewise tore off his worn old sneakers to put on the shiny new pair he had been presented. He made a few experimental hops.

"Hey, these things are comfortable. Thanks!"

"You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy them while they last. Which reminds me…" Kirou landed an intense stare on Genmaru. "Aside from making sure that he has a nutritious diet, I expect you to make sure that he has clothes to wear that are in good condition and fit him. There's no telling how much he'll grow over the course of two years after all."

Genmaru sighed.

"Do you think I'm totally incapable of raising a child?"

Kirou raised an eyebrow at his comment.

"I know you can kill a man, but I've seen nothing to prove or disprove the statement 'you can raise a child'."

Genmaru gave an exasperated look to the heavens, which proved to be pretty pointless considering they were indoors.

"You told Jinsei not to be intentionally troublesome? Why are you pounding me like this? What about all the times I've helped watch Shikamaru?"

"Babysitting someone is very different than being personally responsible for someone's well-being for two years. Once you return you'll have your wife and I to help you, but men are notoriously incapable of nurturing children."

Kirou heaved a sigh and Genmaru shook his head.

"I'll tell you again what I've been saying all along. I'll do my best, alright? I will try my utmost not to scar this child and or deprive him of his damn vegetables, okay? Happy?"

Kirou abruptly burst into a hearty laugh, earning her stares from her two companions. Genmaru scowled.

"Oh, that's funny eh? Have you been trying to make me blow my top the whole time!?"

Kirou's laughs petered out as she shook her head, though a vague expression of mirth remained after she had settled down.

"No, no, it's not that at all. You just remind me of your father so much sometimes. They say that you inherited your mother's looks, but your father's personality shines through in you so often. I remember talking to him about Shikaku's upcoming birth. I thought I was giving friendly advice, but he got aggravated. You almost quoted him a minute ago. 'What makes you think I'm incapable of raising a child?', he asked me. It's like déjà vu."

Genmaru's temper cooled at the mention of his father.

"I'm like my father? I guess I've never really thought about it. To be honest, I haven't thought about him in a while now. I just wish I'd spent more time with him while I had the chance, you know?"

Kirou's eyes grew sad.

"You were only nineteen when he died on that mission to spy on the Land of Grass, yes? Barely an adult, so full of ideas… none of which involve hanging around your parents. You can't blame yourself. Though I'll admit, Shikaku is the one that I feel bad for. He was thrust into the position of clan head very early. If you were nineteen, that would have made him… twenty-five. Roughly ten years ahead of schedule. But here we are twelve years later, and everything is well as it's going to get. We live, learn, and move on."

The conversation lulled and Genmaru shared a look with Kirou. They both looked to Naruto, now Jinsei, and back at one another.

"Live, learn, and move on." Genmaru repeated, as if testing the words on his tongue. He smiled. "Shall we be going?"

Kirou placed her hand on the inactive seal formation and it came back to life after a moment of concentration. Naruto took one last look at the strange sanctuary before exiting the portal behind the two adults, noting that he'd probably never see it again. Although it wasn't as if he wanted to be trapped in there again for any length of time.

Well… maybe if he had a good book.

AN:Hello again, all. I know it's been quite a while, but I've been taking full advantage of my summer vacation (to loaf around of course). I'm happy to report that I got to see a large portion of my family recently. I am, however, unhappy to report that my access to the internet is extremely limited (read: nonexistent) and will continue to be as such until I return to school late this month. I hope you've enjoyed my "pet project" so far. … I'll stop boring you :) Please read and review! I happily accept all reviews and adore constructive criticism. Though I'll be honest and admit that my feelings are easily bruised, so please, for my sake, stay polite.


	4. Chapter 4

Shadow In the Leaves: Chapter 4

Jinsei blinked as his eyes once again adjusted to the radiance of the sun. Though a good portion of the light was filtered out by the surrounding trees, he could not remember the blazing rays that engulfed him ever being so bright. He rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to make them focus correctly, sweeping away the tears they had produced in their stress. Genmaru, having already started to walk away, turned and noticed the seven-year-old's odd behavior.

"Poor kid. We blinded him, dragging him back into the sun after a week in low light conditions."

"I'm okay.", Jinsei said as he made a few last heavy blinks, "I think my eyes are pretty much adjusted now."

"Fortunately for you, our eyes adjust to bright light conditions much more quickly than they adapt to darkness." Kirou chimed in. "Shall we be going?"

"Yeah!" Jinsei cheered, his enthusiasm once again being kindled.

"Okay, same rules apply this time Jinsei-chan." Kirou said, her tone serious. "No making unnecessary noise, just in case. Since we'll be taking the long way around, we probably won't have to wait long, if at all, for Genmaru to show up. After all he is faster than this old woman, and all he has to do is be seen leaving the village, meet up with us, and then you two will be off. Any questions or pressing matters before we leave?"

"Nuh-uh." Jinsei said as he shook his head.

"Alright then. Mist Flower Veil!"

A nonexistent breeze blew the sudden profusion of now-familiar petals around Kirou and Jinsei, some clinging to them just as before. Kneeling down, Kirou silently motioned for him to take a piggyback position again. Jinsei grunted as he complied, having to stretch and make a hop in order to get properly positioned. Genmaru gave a nod to the position he assumed the duo still occupied before vanishing. With a lurch, Jinsei's world began to blur somewhat as Kirou began to move.

The towering rows of trees surrounded them as they traveled, seemingly going on without end. Minutes went by in silence as Jinsei enjoyed the free thrill ride. Still more time passed and Jinsei began to wonder where the meeting point was. He had assumed that it would be right outside of the village, but apparently they had chosen some spot that was much more out of the way. Eventually, Kirou came to a stop in a patch of the forest that seemed totally unremarkable. Jinsei soon noticed that Genmaru was standing on a nearby branch above them, waiting with his arms crossed.

Again, the petals around them vanished as they dropped without Kirou having to say a word. Taking notice of the duo, Genmaru hopped down from his perch.

"I trust your trip was uneventful." Kirou said conversationally.

"Yes." Genmaru answered simply.

Sensing that he wasn't in the mood for her stalling, she leaned down and enveloped Jinsei in a crushing hug.

"You come back a strong young man ready for the academy, okay?"

Jinsei grinned. "You betcha! Just watch, I'm gonna train so much that _Genmaru_'s gonna get tired of it!"

Kirou smiled and patted him on the head as she broke the hug before sharing a look with Genmaru over Jinsei's shoulder.

"You know, I don't doubt that." The next moment passed in silence and Kirou nudged Jinsei gently towards Genmaru. "Get going now. The faster you leave the faster you'll get to come back."

"Kay!" He said as he jogged to his new father's side.

Genmaru chuckled.

"Okay, for real this time. We're off." He said as he extended his hands towards Jinsei, who took them. With a heave, he placed the boy on his back much like Kirou had done. "You'll get free rides for a couple of days here because we've got a lot of ground to cover, but then you'll be hoofing it, so don't get too comfortable. Give your last farewells to Kirou so we can get a move on."

"Bye Grandma Kirou!" Jinsei called, waving.

"See you later dear." She said with a small wave, as if Jinsei and Genmaru were going to the park and were returning that evening.

With the sudden sensation of flying, Jinsei's world began to blur again as the wind tousled his hair. His trip away from Konoha had begun.

-----------------------That Evening------------------------

Not yet clear of the massive forest surrounding Konoha, Jinsei and Genmaru sat around a fire that the latter had created after pitching a small tent. It was cold enough to see your breath that evening, so Jinsei was grateful for the warmth that the hypnotically shifting flames produced. Bathed in the soothing orange glow, Jinsei was tempted to nod off to sleep. In fact, he probably would have if Genmaru hadn't spoken suddenly.

"Let me tell you more about what we're going to do now that we have two years to travel together. First off, you've probably been wondering how we plan to convince the Nara clan that you're my son, since they obviously know that I don't have one." He paused for a response and Jinsei nodded. "The obvious solution is to say that I had a son with another woman, since it's my wife that is incapable of having children. The complication there is that it requires fabricating the existence of a woman that never really was. Fortunately, I was able to create a solution."

He paused again as he collected his thoughts.

"Let me start from the beginning and tell you a little bit about myself as a shinobi. As you heard from Kirou, I am a member of Konoha's ANBU, the elite force of ninja charged with tasks involving the defense of Konoha and the surrounding area. We also perform missions outside of Konoha, though they are generally long-term. We specialize in quick, clean ends to otherwise dangerous situations and tend to be a bit less showy than some other ninja I know. I personally have always had a knack for chakra control, and I ended up studying to become a medi-nin. Partway through my training, especially dealing with missions as a Genin, I realized that most if not all of the principles used by medi-nin can be reversed for deadly self-defense."

Genmaru saw that Naruto's head had tilted at his last statement. "I can see that you're confused."

The boy nodded, his face screwing up in thought.

"Yeah, I thought that medi-nin were just supposed to heal people. I don't wanna sound stupid, but how can you use healing jutsu to hurt someone?"

Genmaru smiled. "That's a perfectly valid question. I'll explain with an example or two. Medi-nin use a technique called the Chakra Scalpel to perform surgery. It's basically chakra molded into a small blade far sharper than a sword."

He held up his hand, fingers rigidly locked together, and it instantly took on the fierce glow of greatly condensed chakra. "It can quite easily cause external damage, like so."

He touched the top of his other arm, and a nasty gash instantly appeared. Jinsei gasped, not only because of the man hurting himself, but also because the wound closed itself within a second of him removing the blade.

"As a side note, medi-nin's of my level can pretty easily heal themselves of any wound that isn't instantly fatal. Anyway, as I was saying, it can also cause internal damage that can't be seen. It takes a bit of skill with the technique, but it can be made to bypass physical objects of the user's choosing, such as the skin. Using the technique in this way can cause damage that is completely unseen and impossible to treat unless another midi-nin happens to be near. Considering that medi-nins have charts of internal organs, muscles, and nerves burned into their brains, I can do some pretty nasty damage."

Genmaru picked up a nearby pine cone and held it level in his palm.

"Think of it like this. Imagine that the side of the pine cone you can see is your skin, and under it, on the other side, are your insides."

Jinsei nodded and Genmaru tapped his glowing hand on the side of the pine cone that Jinsei could see. After giving him a moment to notice that nothing had seemed to happen, Genmaru turned the pine cone around and proceeded to open it like a plastic egg, still connected on the side previously facing Jinsei.

"Whoa." The boy said, eyes wide.

"And then there are techniques that were developed by medi-nin, though any ninja could find a use for them." Genmaru said as he pulled a thick square of folded paper, held shut by a generous amount of twine, out of his backpack.

He untied the twine and unfolded the paper on the ground to reveal a seal within a circle. The paper itself was quite large, roughly six feet square.

"Release." He commanded as he formed a one-handed seal.

A poof of ninja smoke ensued, and after it cleared it revealed quite an odd sight. Lying on the paper was what appeared to be the perfectly preserved body of a brown haired woman about Genmaru's age. It was still wearing a perfectly normal set of clothes.

Jinsei stared at the body, slightly unnerved by the sight of a _real_ corpse. "Uhh, where did you get a dead person?"

"I don't know exactly what Kirou told you, but as you may or may not know the Nara clan is the premier source of medical research in Konoha. We ask and we receive, basically. It's not as if mortuaries get raided for us, but plenty of people agree to donate their body to research when they die, especially ninja. That's how I got my hands on miss Misumi Oronoke here, drowned by a water jutsu. Kirou is pretty is a pretty good artist, so she gave me a sketch of you and I did a little reconstructive surgery on this corpse to make her look like you. A new nose, a little pinch around the eyes, subtle things."

Jinsei took a closer look at the body in front of him and he noticed that the woman did in fact resemble him. She could have passed as his mother, or at least an aunt.

"But what good is this thing going to do us?" The boy asked with a tone of doubt in his voice.

"Well, at first I was going to plant you and this thing near a village with a letter explaining that she was sick, might not make it to the village in question, and had summoned your father to the village. Then I realized it would be much more useful to create some memory of this woman ever existing, so the current plan is this."

He lazily flashed through some seals.

"Dead Soul Jutsu."

A flash of chakra overtook the corpse and quickly receded. Jinsei watched in wonder as it's eyes flew open and it stood up.

"Hello." It spoke in a pleasant voice. "My name is Yume Mitakari."

Jinsei tilted his head in confusion. "I thought you said her name was Misumi."

"I did. I think you don't understand. Nobody can really bring back the dead. This is merely a jutsu used to…"

"Create the appearance of a living person using a corpse." Finished the woman standing in front of him. "Although it appears to be alive, it is under the complete control of the one that used the jutsu, down to the tiniest detail. Because of the nature of the jutsu, you can even force the body to preform ninjutsu, even if they weren't a ninja."

"Though," Genmaru began again, "You can't force the corpse to use any technique you don't know, since you're controlling it as a direct extension of yourself. On top of that, the corpse doesn't retain the elemental chakra it had when it was alive because the technique operates by filling the target's chakra coils with the user's chakra, something that a live person would easily resist, even passively, but a corpse has no power to do. The real advantage of the jutsu is that you can't effectively kill the corpse because it's already dead. It can still function with any number of limbs missing and perforated like a piece of swiss cheese. The center of chakra is at the navel, so anything still attached to the body will still work fine. Their only real options are to restrain it in some way, cut off it's arms and legs, incinerate it, blow it up, or take out you: the controller.

Jinsei rubbed his chin comically as he attempted to digest the wave of information. His nose wrinkled in an equally comical fashion as a sudden thought hit him.

"What's elemental chakra?" He asked, head tilted in curiosity.

Genmaru smiled.

"Ah, good question Jinsei. You're aware that each and every living creature has chakra, yes?"

Jinsei nodded and Genmaru took his cue to continue.

"Well, let me back up a bit. What do you know about elemental jutsu?"

Jinsei shrugged.

"Dunno what you're talking about really. Nothing, I guess."

"Well Jinsei, there are five types of elemental jutsu and five types of elemental chakra to match. There's katon, or fire, raiton, or lightning, suiton, or water, doton, or earth, and futon, or wind."

The boy's eyes lit up as he recalled a recent conversation he'd had with Kirou.

"_Each of them was inspired by one of the five ninjutsu elements."_

"Oh yeah," Jinsei chirped, "Kirou-san said something about that earlier when she was explaining her special genjutsu to me."

Genmaru gave a nod of approval.

"Each type of elemental jutsu is exactly what it sounds like. Every jutsu that falls under the category of katon involves manipulating fire or heat somehow, and so on. The important thing to consider is that the chakra of almost every living being is attuned to, or kind of like, one of these five elements, allowing them to use jutsu of that element with more power and less effort than someone of a different element. So if you had katon chakra…", He trailed off, giving Jinsei a chance to confirm his understanding of the topic at hand.

The boy in question had since resumed rubbing his chin comically.

"…I could make a bigger fireball using less chakra than someone that doesn't?" He guessed, his features nervous.

Genmaru lit up, pleased at how fast Jinsei was able to comprehend his lesson.

"That's exactly right! You're a quick learner my boy."

Jinsei beamed at the praise before looking down shyly and giving a short embarrassed laugh.

"Hehehe, thanks."

"As far as demographics are concerned, katon chakra is the most common type in the village. After all, we do reside in the Land of Fire. However, we have a pretty diverse pool of ninja and katon is followed closely by doton and suiton. That really isn't surprising since we're in such close proximity to the villages hidden in the Stone, Grass, Rain, and Waterfall. The two elements that we're left wanting for in Konoha are futon and raiton, which are about as rare as the other three are common. As it stands, there are only three Konoha shinobi with a known futon element, and one of them is currently serving as one of the Fire Daimyo's personal guards. As for raiton, there are currently around twelve ninja, eight of which are refugees from the land of Lightning. Considering that Konoha has an active force of about 2000 ninja, their numbers are ridiculously small."

Jinsei's curiosity was piqued by the lack of ninjas with a wind or lightning element. What made them so special? Then again, Genmaru had implied that they were common in other ninja villages.

"Do you know any of our ninjas with a wind or lightning element Genmaru-san?" The boy asked, suddenly curious to see if he'd had come across one of them at some point.

"Well...", Genmaru began as he lifted his gaze to the sky, "I know all three of the futon users from our village. One is Hokage-sama's son, Asuma. He's the one guarding the Fire Daimyo I mentioned. The second is a dangerous old war hawk on the village council named Danzo. He's got his fingers in ANBU's pie in ways I still can't figure out. As for the last..."

He snorted and looked down to the ground, eyes closed and shaking his head. The action caused a few errant locks of jet black hair to fall into his face, which he quickly swept aside with a practiced motion.

"Let's just say that she's... interesting. Her name is Tomoyo Adazakura and she's currently a Chunin in ANBU training. She hates my guts because I'm the lucky one that gets to fail her after each of her tests to officially become ANBU. Long story short, she's actually quite excellent with her futon jutsus but her taijutsu and genjutsu just aren't up to par. Some would even say that her taijutsu is laughable, though her genjutsu isn't necessarily _bad_. Problem is, becoming ANBU requires a well-rounded repertoire."

Jinsei unintentionally frowned at his words. It seemed that he'd never come into contact with any of the 'famous' wind users of Konoha. Then again it was possible that he had come across Tomoyo at some point, given that Genmaru hadn't described her.

"As for raiton users, most are refugees from the last ninja war as I mentioned. However, you've met one of the Konoha-born raiton users already." Genmaru said, a slight hint of humor creeping into his voice with the knowledge that he was spurring the boy's curiosity.

Predictably, Jinsei launched into frenzied questions.

"Really? When? Who? Was it Kirou-san? Or Hokage-sama? Or maybe Shikaku? Come on, tell me, tell me!"

"Well..." Genmaru drawled, intentionally dragging out the moment into what must have seemed an eternity to the boy spazing out in front of him.

When it seemed that Jinsei was going to hurt himself in his excitement, he quickly flashed through some seals. His shadow snaked out into the impenetrable night, electricity arcing across it almost jovially and lending light to the otherwise shrouded area.

Jinsei stared in wonder as the electricity died away and Genmaru's shadow returned to its proper place, splayed across the trees behind him due to the soothing light of the fire.

"Awesome!", he cheered, "Can you teach me to do that too? I know I probably wont be able to do it as good 'cuz I probably wont have raiton chakra, but..."

Genmaru shook his head, smiling nonetheless.

"I might be able to give you an idea of how to do that with whatever element of chakra _you_ possess. It comes fairly easily to Naras because our shadows are natural conductors of our chakra, but infusing jutsus with elemental chakra is something reserved for your own element. I guarantee you that trying to do it with another will prove impossible."

Genmaru was silent for a moment before his eyes lit up with a sudden thought.

"You know what? All this talk about elemental chakra has me thinking. I'd like to test you to see what type of chakra you possess, but to do that you have to be able to mold some chakra for me. I don't suppose you figured that out from the academy as well, did you?"

Jinsei shook his head, suddenly appearing a little sad.

"I kinda know how you're _supposed_ to do it, you know; with seals and stuff, but I never really figured it out,"

Genmaru gave the boy a hearty clap on the back, smiling broadly.

"Don't look so sad Jinsei, I was joking more than anything. Most children in clans start learning the basics around this age as well, so don't sweat it. Here, I'll show you. This is how my father taught me to mold chakra, so consider this our first father-son ninjutsu lesson."

He formed a ram seal and snake-like blue wisps began to surround him and writhe into the surrounding air until they formed a shell around him. Moments later he was coated in the shimmering blue energy.

"Now do as I do with your hands. As you may or may not know, this is called the ram seal. It's the seal used to gather chakra for any number of purposes."

Jinsei did as he was told, and when he had successfully mimicked the seal Genmaru was demonstrating he felt something within him snap to attention as if his body had suddenly been magnetized or something to that effect. However, as seconds passed, nothing else occurred.

"I don't think it's working." Jinsei commented, frowning.

"I didn't expect you to mold chakra simply by forming the seal, silly. You have to be able to visualize your own chakra and sort of force it out. This is where a little bit of help comes in handy."

Genmaru stepped forward and grasped Jinsei's hands, which were still forming the seal. The blue glow encompassing his body started to overtake the boy, who felt its effects immediately.

Something was stirring inside of him, gently and carefully, but it was there, like a pulse. The feeling gradually increased in intensity as he felt it travel in eddies through his body and somehow he instinctually knew that it was a flow, ending where it started and beginning anew. The aura around Jinsei began to flare as he unwittingly drew out his chakra and Genmaru released his hands, backing away. They both held smiles, though Genmaru's was born from satisfaction while Jinsei's was one of triumph.

"I'm doing it!", The boy shouted., "Look, I'm actually doing it!"

Genmaru's smile wilted as he realized what he had missed while contemplating Jinsei's success. The pressure of the chakra around him was astounding, scary even, for a child his age. What had been a calm blue outline when he was guiding it was now a raging blue aura that more resembled a large flame. How was the boy putting out so much raw chakra?

Jinsei sensed his companion's shift in mood and a concerned look quickly overtook his features.

"Am I doing something wrong?" He asked, worried that he had disappointed his mentor.

"No, not necessarily." Genmaru spoke carefully, "Just try to get your chakra under control. Remember what mine looked like? You've got to... flatten it down for lack of a better term."

Jinsei visualized what he wanted his chakra to do, and he felt it compress somewhat, but after a moment it jerked violently and continued to flare around him. Trying to condense it was like attempting to hold a handful of pressurized water; the sheer force of his chakra was pushing past his mental 'fingers'.

"I... can't..." Jinsei said, strain evident in his voice.

He pushed harder and harder with his mind, but to no avail. He simply couldn't bring his fiery aura under control.

Thinking quickly, Genmaru pulled a slip of paper out of his pouch and tossed it into the raging aura around the boy.

"You can stop now, just let it go." He told the boy.

Jinsei complied, letting his chakra slip away. Genmaru walked up to him and paused when he looked down. There, laying innocently on the ground, was the slip of paper he had thrown, split down the middle. Genmaru just continued to stare at it for a few moments, gaining the attention of Jinsei, who was unable to understand what was so interesting about two pieces of paper.

"Hmm." The elder finally offered, "Finding you a good teacher could be a bit of a challenge."

Jinsei lowered his head, not comprehending what Genmaru was referring to.

"I'm sorry I'm not any good at controlling chakra Genmaru-san."

Seeing the look of dejection on the boy's face, he felt a twinge of guilt inside. He probably should have explained himself better from the get-go.

"Don't look so down Jinsei-chan, that can be fixed with some good old-fashioned effort. I was talking about training you to use your _elemental_ chakra."

Jinsei's mood instantly improved at his words, though he was still left confused at what was going on.

"What're you talking about Genmaru-san?"

"Sheesh Jinsei, call me Gen. That paper we've been looking at was made to tell us what kind of chakra you have. If you had lightning chakra like me it would have crumpled up, so sorry."

Genmaru laughed inwardly as he saw the look of burning curiosity awaken once more in the boy.

"If you had fire chakra it would have become burnt. Earth would have made it crumble, and water would have made it wet. Yours though, split. Leaving..."

"Wind!" The boy cheered, eyes lighting up with excitement. "Cool! So I'm like the number four wind user of Konoha?"

"Looks like it."

Jinsei couldn't stop himself from doing a victory dance.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh." He chanted as he wiggled cutely.

"But it's like I said." Genmaru said, sobering slightly, "Finding you a teacher in Konoha will be tough. We could travel to Suna while we're out and about anyways, since they have an abundance of wind-users, but there's no reason anybody there would have a hand in training a future Konoha shinobi. We'll just have to travel to a smaller, more friendly country like Rice and see if anybody there has a futon element. Maybe they'll write down some notes for you to use when you're older and have a better grasp on ninjutsu in general."

He stopped his musings because Jinsei seemed distracted by something to his right.

"Are you listening to me Jinsei?" He asked as he turned to see the source of his distraction.

He rubbed his eyes with a sheepish look as he realized that miss 'Yume' was still staring at them blankly, smile plastered on her face. Her expression was a bit unnerving, along with the realization that he had been maintaining the jutsu without a second thought all that time.

"That... thing has been watching us the whole time." Jinsei said, a strange look of distaste on his face. "It's kinda starting to creep me out, just sorta standing there."

"I can see that... Let's fix that then, hmm?"

The corpse walked over to the seal from which it was summoned before unceremoniously collapsing in a heap on top of it. Genmaru formed several seals before slamming a palm down on the formation.

"Seal!" He commanded, and with a puff of smoke the cadaver was gone.

"Well, let's turn in for the night bucko. We've got a big day ahead of us." Genmaru said as he smothered the fire with his shadow.

"Yeah, sure." Jinsei replied as he mad himself comfortable in his miniature sleeping bag. Unfortunately, he was sure that his dreams would be haunted by the smile of Yume Mitakari.

In the end he was right. There she was, dressed in a short skirt with a navy blue top accented with a white sash.

"Hello everyone, we're going to have a simply _fabulous _tour today." She said, that smile burning a hole in his eyes. "If you look to right you'll see..."

A.N.: OMG!!! I'm back! As you all might guess, that means that I have a functional computer again, so look forward to more regular updates in the coming months. Please drop me a review to let me know what you thought. I appreciate you all being so patient, and I would adore some constructive criticism moving into the meat of the story.


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